Naruto Upgraded
by Hakureisaiga
Summary: Naruto stumbles on to one of Orochimaru's hideouts and the last thing he remembered is that some silver-gray matter came at him. Now he suddenly become faster, stronger, and more intelligent. Look like our young hero has got himself an upgrade
1. Upgrading Naruto

**Chapter 1- Upgrading Naruto**

**October 10, A.K- 11:00PM- Courtyard-** Normally on the night such as this, you would think that kids would be asleep at this time….that case would have to provide a slight exception for a six-year-old boy by the name of Naruto Uzumaki.

Now if Naruto had parents, he would have not been out her and the fact that he was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was not helping his situation especially since he was being chased by a slightly drunken mob filled with ninja and civilians alike. Six years ago, a great battle was fought…..the Kyuubi no Kitsune was mysteriously summoned to destroy Konohagakure, but the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze was able to defeat it by using a sealing jutsu, but sadly at the cost of his own life.

He was forced to seal within Naruto…..his only son. Naruto ran into an abandoned cave with the mob right at his heels, not noticing the forbidden sign, the boy was so terrified that he was constantly looking behind his shoulder every few minutes and that costs him….there was a rotting floorboard that was in front of him and when he ran on it, the floor gave away, making the young boy fall with a scream into the darkness.

The scream was heard outside of the cave and one asked, "W-What happen?"

"Demon boy fall through hole." Another answered in a drunken slur, "He dead now….let's go…." The mob dispersed back to their home, idiotically believing that the bane of Konoha was dead. But as it turns out the boy was only unconscious and what was inside the place he fell through would spark a new journey….it would upgrade Naruto Uzumaki into the ultimate ninja upgrade.

A few hours later, Naruto woke up groggily and disorientated. "Ugh….my head." He said as he got up and touched the side of his head gingerly. Blood dried on the side and made his bangs cling to his forehead and temple. "_Great, another birthday and they leave me in a different place. Now where the hell am I?" _the boy thought to himself.

He stood up and limped towards the wall to lean against the wall and find his way out. He ventured into the dark corridor until he saw a torch lit up and another and another, lighting the way to a door that had caution tape over it. "What is this place?" Naruto asked. The boy moved under the tape and opened the door, which moved slowly with a loud creaking sound.

Next, the boy noticed several notes thrown askew, jars filled with misty water and preserved organs, but there was one jar that caught Naruto's eye….it was filled with grey, shiny matter and Naruto looked around to find a ladder in a corner and pushed it towards the counter.

He reached up to grab the jar and struggled to open it with his hands, but little did he know was that the grey matter was reacting to the movement. Naruto's ministrations caused the jar to shatter and at that moment, the ladder buckled. The Jinchuuriki fell to the ground for the second time of this night and all he saw before he passed out was the grey matter coming at him.

**October 11, A.K- Konoha Hospital- 10 AM-** Naruto woke up in a hospital bed and his personal nurse, Saya Tanaka came in. She was only 16 years old and one of the few who thought Naruto was a hero for keeping the Kyuubi at bay each day. "Good morning, Saya-chan…" Naruto said sleepily.

The young nurse smiled sweetly at Naruto, "Hello, Naru-chan, are you feeling better?"

The blond looked at her and replied, "Yeah, I am…I feel much better, actually I think that this is the best that I have ever felt in my entire life…maybe it is because that you are her, Saya-chan." Saya had a light blush from Naruto's compliment and giggled a bit, "Oh, Naruto, you are too much…."

Saya's smiling face turned to a frown for a moment, "The ANBU found you in an underground lab, Inu-san tracked you and found you unconscious with matted blood on your head." Naruto's mind wandered to the events that occurred last night, especially with the mysterious grey goop, but he absentmindedly dismissed it.

"Since I am fully healed….can I go now?" Naruto asked sweetly.

"Sure, come on, I will sign you out and then we can go see the Hokage."

"Hokage-ji-san?"

"Naruto, you should respect him, he is the Hokage."

"But he is old….besides I do respect him. Respect's earned, not given unlike those old farts he calls advisors believe."

Saya giggled as she held Naruto's hand as she finished signing him out and the two strode off to the Hokage's office. As they reached the secretary's desk, the lady smiled at Saya, but when she saw Naruto, she said in a crisp tone, "I am sorry, but the Hokage is busy at the moment…."

"Is that so, Kimiko-san?" an elderly voice called out.

"Jiji-san!" Naruto cried out. He ran to hug Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage at his waist. Kimiko paled in fear while Saya smirked at the woman's misfortune. "How are you, Naruto-chan?" The God of Shinobi asked.

"I am fine, jiji-san, I can't explain it, but I feel so much better now."

Sarutobi smirked, "Maybe it is because of Saya-chan…" Saya blushed, but Naruto shook his head, "No, that happens every day….I mean, like I feel all energized and stuff."

The Professor smiled at the boy, "Sleep can re-energize the boy, maybe that is the cause. Now come along, you don't want to miss your first day at the Academy, do you?" The boy vigorously shook his head from side to side and ran off towards the Academy, dragging Saya with him, "C'mon, Saya-chan, let's hurry or we will be late!"

"Okay, okay, I am coming, Naruto-kun…" As the two went ahead, Sarutobi rounded on Kimiko, "I am very disappointed in you, Kimiko. I thought that you would be better than that, the secretary's job is to allow all civilians and ninja to see me for their concerns….that includes Naruto-kun."

"Sir….I…."

Sarutobi silenced the woman with his hand raised, "I don't want to hear your excuses, I know the routine with several of my former secretaries. Taking your anger out on Naruto is not the answer…he is not the beast that is sealed deeply within him. Naruto is just like any other child, innocent, energetic, curious and full of life. If he were a demon, this place would be unpopulated at the time he would walk."

He turned away, "This is only the first warning….three strikes and you are out, Kimiko-san. Remember, you are not the only one who has lost someone to the fox and I hate the beast for it, but not Naruto, he is the hero of this village….do well to remember that or you will regret it."

**Academy- **"Now remember, Naruto, be polite….making a good first impression on your teachers will help you in the future." Saya said to him in a serious tone. "Okay, Saya-chan, I will…." Naruto replied as he hugged her tightly and Saya whispered in his ear, "If they are not polite to you at all, I give you permission to prank them good."

A mischievous glint appeared in Naruto's eyes as he said, "Right, Saya-chan!" He ran off inside the building and Sarutobi appeared as he said, "You have just unleashed hell on those poor teachers, Saya."

"Some of them need to lighten up or deserve it….plus he sees it as training. Running from ANBU, Jonin and chunin helps him build his speed and agility and doing that actual task teaches him stealth, that is why I encourage him." Saya said, "I believe that Naruto-kun will be a great ninja and maybe someday, a great Hokage."

"Indeed he will, Saya….indeed he will. I have a feeling that is not all that you feel either."

Saya blushed a bit and Sarutobi said, "You like him…don't worry about the age thing, my third girlfriend before I met Biyako, was only 13 years apart from me…plus he will be a ninja."

Saya looked down at her feet and Hiruzen chuckled a bit at the huge blush on her face.

**Naruto- **The boy moved quickly inside of the classroom and found students rushing to sit by friends. He soon found a seat and saw that the person next to it was a bit shy. She had pink hair and jade green eyes; she also had a red ribbon tied in her hair to keep back her bangs from her forehead.

"Hello, I am Uzumaki Naruto, what is your name?"

"H-Haruno S-Sakura…..nice to meet you, Naruto-kun."

"That is a pretty name." The Jinchuuriki said with a smile, "I hope that we can be great friends, Sakura, it will be fun to be in this class with you." The timid girl blushed, "A-Arigotou…."

"Huh? You gotta speak up some, Sakura-chan. I can barely hear you…."

A new voice said, "I keep telling her that too." Naruto looked to see a blond-haired girl with pale blue eyes and she introduced herself, "Hi, I am Yamanaka Ino…I see that you have met Sakura-chan."

"I am Uzumaki Naruto….nice to meet you." Ino moved into the seat on Sakura's right hand side and asked Naruto, "Are those whiskers birthmarks?"

"Yeah, they are…" Just then more students came in and Naruto noticed that his friends Shikamaru Nara, a lazy genius and Choji Akimichi, his pleasantly plump, loyal friend came in. Next, he recognized a Hyuga girl who he faintly remembered saving her from teasing bullies.

"Alright, class, settle down…." A teacher said. The students looked to see a brown-haired man with his hair in a ponytail and a large scar running across the bridge of his nose along with a silver-haired man with a kind smile. The brown-haired man said, "I am Iruka Umino and this is your assistant teacher, Mizuki Touji. We will be your teachers for the next four years. First, we will start off with introductions."

Soon one by one, the students introduced themselves in the front of the class. "Okay, now we will be testing your physical endurance. We will be running laps, doing pull-ups, sit-ups, squats and then speed and agility training. Follow us to the gymnasium please."

**Gymnasium- 10:45 A.M. - **Mizuki said, "Okay, now each of you will run through this obstacle course to test your speed and agility. First up, Aburame Shino…." Each of the kids ran through the obstacle course with an average score except Shikamaru, who had the slowest time because he was too lazy to do it.

"Uchiha Sasuke…" Iruka called out, the girls including Sakura and Ino blushed as an eager boy with a dark long-sleeved shirt and brown shorts came into view. He wore the Uchiha crest on his back and had onyx eyes. Instantly you would think he was a bit emo, but his eyes held so much life in them.

"You may begin!" Mizuki cried out. The boy shot off through the obstacle course. He weaved through the hallway where tennis balls were being fired, flying around his head and body, and then he jumped over the mud pit to grab a hold of the rock climb.

The young Uchiha scampered up like a monkey and then jumped on the swing to haul him over to the finish line where a crystal orb was waiting for him. Sasuke grabbed the orb and moved through Iruka, who was waiting about a quarter of a mile away. "8 minutes and 43 seconds, you were close to beating the record, Sasuke." Iruka said with a smile.

Sasuke nodded and walked back to his classmates with a frustrated look on his face. _"Why isn't he happy? He got the fastest time out of most of the students here." _Naruto thought to himself. "Uzumaki Naruto…." Mizuki said.

Naruto stepped forward and readied himself at the starting line. "You may begin!" Mizuki shouted. Naruto sprinted through the hallway where the tennis balls were being launched, then leaped over the mud pit to grab a ledge on the rock climbing wall and used his momentum to escalate himself up on the top of it, then he swung himself down and moved to grab the crystal orb. Next, he sprinted toward Iruka and stopped in front of the man.

Iruka had a shocked look at his face and said, "I-Impossible….4 minutes and 45 seconds….Naruto, you just broke the record." Naruto said in a shocked tone, "W-What? I did? B-But I wasn't even going all that fast."

Iruka asked, "Did you have any weights that you took off?"

"No, I have never worn weights before."

"Do you know how to access your chakra?"

"Chakra? What is that?" Naruto asked.

Iruka said, "Well, that is strange…you were mostly a blur to your classmates. Even I, a chunin, had a bit of difficulty tracking you."

Naruto thought, _"What is happening to me? Is it because of that grey matter I found last night?"_ The Jinchuuriki was lost in his thoughts as Iruka proceeded to teach them history and Mizuki taught them the basics of taijutsu. He didn't even notice the glare of Sasuke because he broke the record…..the record that his older brother, Itachi held, which was 6 minutes and 49 seconds.

**Naruto's Apartment-October 11, A.K. - 8:00 PM-** _"Under 5 minutes, I did the obstacle course and broke the record….how is that possible? How did I manage to do that? What did that grey matter do to me? Is it some sort of power boost or something?"_ Naruto asked himself as he ate his ramen.

"I could tell you….Naruto-sama." A voice said in his head.

"What the hell? Who are you, where are you and how am I able to hear you in my head?" Naruto said, looking a bit startled.

The feminine voice said, "This would be better if you were asleep, hold on one second, master Naruto. Program execute….forced sleep procedure in 5….4…3…2…1." Instantly, Naruto's eyes began to droop and he slowly fell asleep with his ramen in front of him.


	2. Meeting AI and Kyuubi

**Chapter 2- Meeting A.I. and Kyuubi**

Naruto woke up and asked, "Where am I?"

"**In your mind…."** A gravelly voice said. _"This voice….this was not the voice that contacted me earlier."_ Naruto thought, then he asked nervously, _"Who are you? Where are you?"_

"**Behind you….Naruto."**

Naruto slowly turned to look behind him to see two glowing red cat-like eyes and large white teeth twisted in a sinister smile. Naruto froze, _"W-What the hell are you?"_

"**Me? I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, you pathetic human. Now come and release me from this infernal prison, mortal."** Then an angelic voice said, "Naruto-sama, I would advise you not to release the Kyuubi for you will lose your humanity if you do."

Naruto looked to his left to see a pale-skinned woman with green eyes and dark black hair, wearing a white dress, _"Who are you, miss? And why do you call me master?"_ The woman replied, "I am Serenity, your A.I. or artificial intelligence."

"_What?"_

"When you touched that grey matter last night, I was able to absorb myself into your body through your wounds. The matter is called nanites, which are microscopic little robots that can help the body work efficiently. The reason that we were never used was because the patients died shortly after they were injected with a small sample."

Naruto asked, _"So why am I alive now and who made you?"_ Serenity replied, "The reason is mainly because of your healing factor from the Kyuubi no Kitsune, which allows us to adjust inside you….the one who made us was Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin."

The Kyuubi roared, **"Do not ignore me, release me from this infernal prison and I will think about sparing your miserable life."**

Naruto ignored the fox as he asked another question, _"So do you know everything about me and what is happening with my body, like my lineage or something?"_

"Yes, your body is being enhanced to its full potential, making you stronger, faster, sharper, flexible etc. As to knowing about you, yes, I do."

"_Do you know my parents?"_

"Accessing….cross referencing DNA….your parents are Kushina Uzumaki, the Crimson Princess and former Jinchuuriki of our 'friend' over there and Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash and Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto was shocked at the fact that his mother was a Jinchuuriki and even more that the Yondaime, the one who sealed the Kyuubi inside of him, was his own father. **"So you are the spawn of the accursed woman…..I thought I would recognize you for her attitude was much like you and the bastard Yondaime is your father…I will definitely kill you when I released." **

Naruto growled out in anger, _"Shut up…." _

The Kyuubi was surprised at the level of hatred that Naruto possessed towards him. _"So I am the son of the Yondaime and my mother was the Jinchuuriki for you. The old man lied to me about knowing my parents, the villagers and some ninjas hated me for your attack and I have been alone because of your damn actions. Serenity, is there any way to control the Kyuubi?"_

"Yes, but you will have to release the seal in order to control his chakra without any drawbacks, furthermore the way you are, you cannot survive the battle against the Kyuubi, you must be at Jonin level to battle it."

Naruto growled_, "Fine, but I don't want anything to do with you now, Kyuubi….so until the day I take your chakra, you will be silent….now be gone from here!"_ Naruto, with his young mind, pushed back the Kyuubi into the crevasses of your mind.

"**NARUTO! I WILL KILL YOU!"** Kyuubi roared out.

Naruto turned to Serenity, _"Well, I will have to train harder to defeat that fox and I will need a lot of jutsu to work with."_

Serenity said, "Of course, Naruto-sama, but I would like to inform you about the seal. It seems that your parents infused a bit of their chakra inside you. Would you like to access it now?"

"_No, I believe that I have enough things on my plate for one night, plus I think I might kill my father before he says anything to me. For now I will not say anything to them until the advantage falls to me to reveal my knowledge. What are your abilities, Serenity?" _

Serenity replied, "My abilities are to scan and help you learn jutsu to master it completely, also to regulate your chakra throughout your network system as well as changing anything inside of your body: blood type, adrenaline levels, etc. There is more information, but I can't access them at this time, mainly if Orochimaru was able to have a successful experiment, he wanted it to progress slowly to be able to control him better."

"_I am guessing that my weaknesses are electricity…."_

"_Yes, if you are hit with a Raiton jutsu, my abilities were be hindered greatly for an unspecified time."_

Naruto nodded, _"Good, I need you to extract some of Kyuubi's chakra, I have a feeling that we will need it in the near future."_

"Yes, Naruto-sama." Was her answer, the Jinchuuriki allowed the Kyuubi's cage to appear once again and he approached it once again only for its claws to come out to attack him, but Naruto grabbed the end.

"_You should know something, Kyuubi. One's mind is the powerful weapon a person can wield….you are living in my mind and in here, I am God until I release that cage of yours."_ Naruto broke the claw off of Kyuubi, causing it to roar in pain and looked it as it dissipates into red-orange chakra that Serenity sent out bits of herself to collect and store, then Naruto allowed for the Kyuubi to regenerate its missing appendage.

"**You will pay for this pain you have caused me, Naruto."**

Naruto looked at him and retorted, _"Shut up, you know nothing of pain, you are just a manifestation of chakra, the only thing that you can experience is anger, rage, lust, destruction, greed….that is all you know. Now until I have the power of a Jonin, you will shut up and leave me alone. When I have the power, I am coming for your fuzzy ass!"_


	3. Naruto's Intelligence

_**Hakureisaiga-I am sorry for the short chapter, fellow readers…but I had to get the practical stuff out of the way, so in compensation, here is the next chapter, which is much longer than both of the previous ones combined**_

**Chapter 3- Naruto's Intelligence**

After meeting the sinister Kyuubi no Kitsune and the artificial intelligence Serenity, Naruto was conflicted with many emotions. Anger, sadness, pain…and happiness were among the ones that were felt the most. 

"_So…I am a Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. My mother…was the second holder, my father exchanged his life to seal it within me and protect the village. Sarutobi-jiji-san lied to me, knowing about my parents and the Kyuubi and I have nanites that boost my body to its highest potential, making me faster, stronger, smarter and more durable than most people."_ He thought.

The boy pondered, _"I am not going to tell the old man any of this…except maybe the knowledge of the Kyuubi."_ Then the Jinchuuriki let out a laugh, "Funny, everyone is practically worshipping the clan who gave birth to the cause of Kyuubi's release and the savior and son of the one who sacrificed his life for me and this forsaken village is treated like a pariah."

Naruto got up and declared, "Well, let's give the crowd what they want…right?" After Naruto's declaration, he threw himself into studying and training. For him to avert drawing attention to himself, he made sure that he was in the middle and developed a happy mask to fool everyone even the Sandaime himself.

Also that was the last beating he had at the age of six…..mostly because the civilians and some of the ninja were beaten to unconsciousness due to Naruto's prowess at taijutsu. He learned every single jutsu in the library and mastered them completely due to Serenity able to replay the hand signs in his mindscape and provide the guidance in learning it.

In result of that, Naruto became a bit aloof to everyone and his classmates were wary of him except his friends, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Hinata Hyuga and Kiba Inuzuka. Something in his soul told him that these four would be his true friends until death and so far they were. His other friend turned acquaintances, Sakura and Ino ignored him mostly because of the current heartthrob Sasuke Uchiha.

About six or seven years ago, the Uchiha except his mother, Mikoto Uchiha and Sasuke were killed by his own brother, Itachi. Naruto was a bit saddened at this event; Itachi was one of the few Uchihas that he respected besides Mikoto.

Due to an unknown genjutsu cast by his brother, Sasuke's mind was traumatized by the event and fixated on training to confront his brother and kill him personally. Mikoto was trying her best to lead him on the right path and Naruto remembered the day he met her on the verge of despair.

**Flashback-2 years ago-** _Mikoto was devastated, she lost her friends, brothers, sisters and her husband all in one night, killed by her own flesh and blood…..her prodigy son. On top of that, her son was changed and began obsessed with training to the brink of unconsciousness to make sure that he was the stronger one when he faced Itachi. Fixated on joining her kinsmen in death, she gripped the kunai in her hands and prepared to stab herself in the heart._

_She moved her arms and as the point neared her skin, a small hand stopped its descent by holding on her forearm. "Wha?" she said in surprise._

"_Killing yourself is not going to solve the problem that Itachi-san killed your family, plus you still have Sasuke-san to take care, Mikoto-sama…" She looked behind her to see Naruto's cerulean eyes and a sad smile. He continued, "Plus my mother would want you to be stronger than that, ne?"_

_Mikoto's eyes widened, "You….you know?" _

"_I do…..I have known for four months now."_

_Mikoto bowed her head, "I am sorry that I couldn't do much for you, Naruto….but how you did?"_

"_A certain fox told me….trust me, he is suck a jackass, I have no idea how my mother dealt with him in the past for all those years. I am this close to making him into an Easter bunny with his mouth sewed shut." Naruto said as he thought about the Kyuubi in his stomach._

_Mikoto giggled through her tears, "Thank you…Naruto-kun, thank you for making me see the light again. Funny, you are just like your mother."_

_Naruto smiled, "You are welcome, Mikoto-sama…" Her dark ebony eyes met his and she kissed him fully on the lips on pure impulse, Naruto's eyes widened a bit at her boldness, but was not sure that if breaking away from it was a good idea in her emotional state, so he kissed back._

_Besides when will it be the next time an older woman kisses him, the pariah of Konoha?_

_**Wave-**__ A dark haired woman sneezed and her husband said, "Tsunami, are you alright?" Tsunami answered, "I am alright, Kaiza-kun, I think someone is talking about me."_

"_Probably your father in his sleep…."_

_**Gambling Casino-**__ A blonde haired woman sneezed as she pulled the lever and the slots showed a grape, an apple and an orange. "Goddamn it!" she cried out._

_Konoha- When their lips parted, Naruto said, "Wow….that was amazing." _

_Mikoto was a bit shocked and covered her lips, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean…I mean…"_

_Naruto smiled, "It is alright, you were emotional…and it takes away the worry of me having to lament on my first kiss if I happen to die on a mission." Mikoto said, "Glad you like it…"_

"_Of course, you are a beautiful woman….who wouldn't like it?"_

_Mikoto blushed a bit and Naruto said, "Besides if I did have a relationship with you, Mikoto-chan…I don't think that Sasuke would approve of it at the moment, that is." Mikoto's face turned red, "B-But I am old enough to be your mother…."_

"_Oh, trust me….I have seen people old enough to be my grandmother with a 21-year-old, now that was a mess you don't want to see."_

_Mikoto replied, "But you are right….if he was like Itachi, he would freak, but Sasuke was more inclined to my so-called husband, Fugaku."_

"_I take it that you didn't like him?"_

"_No, I fell in love with him, but then he changed after the village was becoming distant after the Kyuubi attacked the village. Madara Uchiha was able to control the fox once when he fought against Hashirama Senju, so the suspicions aroused around our clan because of that factor."_

_Naruto was surprised, "He was able to control the Kyuubi?" _

"_Yes, but so could Hashirama Senju with his Mokuton bloodline. The only Senju that is left is Tsunade, the Slug Sannin and she is out of the village, plus she doesn't have the Mokuton bloodline. Therefore the suspicion was on the Uchiha clan, soon my husband started planning and tension grew between him and Itachi after Itachi's friend, Shisui mysteriously drowned in the river. Then Itachi came and attacked the clan."_

_Naruto said, "I see….so Madara was the one who sent the Kyuubi, the damn fox was right…"_

"_What? But he is dead….hell, he should be twice as old as the Third Hokage."_

"_Think about it…Madara and Hashirama were the only one who could be able to control the Bijuu, including Kyuubi. Somehow my mother was weakened and Madara was able to release and control the Kyuubi. That explains the fact that the Kyuubi appeared out of nowhere, I am guessing that my mother was attacked at my birth since that would be the most vulnerable at that time, correct?"_

_Mikoto said, "Y-Yes…when she had you, the seal that she had would weaken and the Kyuubi tried its best to get out, she told me that before she had you. Heh, she even asked me if giving birth would hurt….but it doesn't explain how Madara is alive."_

"_You said that Itachi's eyes were different, right?"_

"_Yes, somehow he acquired the Mangekyo Sharingan…."_

"_It is a theory, but what if Madara somehow got another level, much higher than the Mangekyo Sharingan. Do you know the history of Madara or did he have any siblings?"_

"_Yes, he did…his brother was Izuna Uchiha, they both were competing against each other and both of them acquired the Mangekyo Sharingan as well, but Madara's eyes dimmed and he turned blind, then Izuna died."_

_Naruto sat and thought for a moment, "That is it….Madara must have took his brother's eyes when he died and had them implanted into him, making the eyes adjusted to his own and got more powerful eyes…making him immortal in a sense maybe."_

_Mikoto said, "Is that even possible? If it is, we must report this to Hokage-sama…"_

"_Like I said, it is just a theory, Mikoto-chan….we don't know anything yet and I would have to explain everything to Jiji-san. We have to have proof to confirm it. So for now….we will keep this to ourselves. In the meantime, we will need to train hard…..I will need to train against the Sharingan as well as learning more jutsu. To defeat Madara or his successor, I will need to be able to control the Sharingan."_

_Mikoto nodded, "Alright, Naruto-kun…."_

_Naruto smiled and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips, "There, something to remember me by….until I figure something out to help you out." _

_Mikoto said, "You are lucky that you are only ten or I would have jumped you."_

"_For some reason, Mikoto-chan, I wouldn't mind that at all." Then the Uzumaki disappeared into the night while Mikoto returned back to her house with a small smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep. _

**Flashback Ends**

Now, Naruto was seen in class, sleeping. All of the information spewing from Iruka's mouth was just mainly review for the final exam.

He decided to observe the classroom; everyone was mostly the same….except Sasuke. Over the years, Sasuke became cold and aloof due to Itachi and the council's interference was not helping Mikoto out either. He became an angst persona and often blamed his mother for his problems, for that Naruto held resentment in his heart for that.

His former friends, Sakura and Ino were still loyal fan girls to Sasuke despite of all of Naruto's indirect efforts to encourage them to train. The only way Ino trained was when her father forced her too. Hinata would often steal glance at Naruto and occasionally stuttered when she was nervous.

"Naruto!" Iruka shouted.

"What do you want, Iruka-sensei?"

"I want to pay attention to the lesson!"

"To a pointless review of everything I have learned for the past four years…thanks, but I will pass on that."

"Then what is the Yondaime's most famous technique?"

"Which one? The Rasengan or the Hiraishin because both of them were used fairly frequently." Naruto answered lazily.

"Who are the Sannin?"

"Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru, former students of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. The only reason why they got the title was because they were the only survivors who battled against Hanzo of the Salamander and lived. Also Jiraiya is a known pervert, Tsunade sucks at gambling and Orochimaru is a traitor and likes to touch little boys."

"Sho…"

"Hashirama Senju, co-creator of Konohagakure along with Madara Uchiha, possessed the Mokuton bloodline. Are you done yet?"

Iruka was silent and Naruto took it as a yes and put his head down once again. Soon he woke up just as Iruka said, "Now we will have sparring matches to determine the Rookie of the Year and Best Kunoichi of the Year." Naruto thought to himself, "Finally something interesting…."

The classmates filed out in order to get the matchups. As the boys and girls battled it out, it soon came down to Naruto and Sasuke. "It is down to you two. Naruto...Sasuke, you will fight. The same rules apply, if you run out of the ring, you lose one point. You hit your opponent, that is a point…..first one to get three hits win and become the Rookie of the Year." Iruka said.

Both boys nodded and slipped into their stances and the chunin shouted, "BEGIN!"

Sasuke said to the Uzumaki, "You can't defeat me, Uzumaki….I am stronger than you!"

"Say that after you win the match, Sasuke-san. You are overestimating your strength here."

"Hmph, what do you know about strength?"

"A lot more than you, I know how to gain more power….through friends. You have no one to lean on and that is why you will lose. It seems you have forgotten how to gain true strength, no less to wipe your own ass."

Sasuke shot forward and attacked Naruto, but the Jinchuuriki ducked under his cross. The Uchiha sent a kick to the Jinchuuriki's head, but the nanite- enchanted boy caught his leg and lifted it up to flung him to the side.

Sasuke corrected himself by landing on his feet and ran to give Naruto a flying kick, but Naruto caught it. "You are too slow, use your speed instead…that is your strength, not brute power, Sasuke-san."

"Shut up and stop blocking!"

Naruto replied, "Ah, but that would defeat the purpose of the exercise. You can't expect an enemy ninja to just take your shots." Sasuke sent a flurry of punches only for Naruto to block his shots and then Naruto decided to end this charade by moving himself in Sasuke's guard and attacked him.

The boy moved forward and gave the Uchiha a left cross, causing the arrogant boy's head to snap to the right. Next, the Jinchuuriki rushed in and sent a right elbow to the face, Sasuke managed to block the elbow strike to his head while making a fatal mistake…he used two hands to do it, allowing Naruto the opportunity to use his left hand to embed itself into Sasuke's gut.

The boy stumbled back and then Naruto sent the back of his fist into Sasuke's neck and then did a spinning back fist to Sasuke's head with his other arm, effectively knocking him out. "Winner: Naruto Uzumaki."

The fan girls excluding Ino and Sakura protested, "No way! Sasuke-kun couldn't be defeated!"

"The idiot must have cheated!"

"Yeah, he is an idiot….only an idiot!"

Iruka rubbed his temples, "For the umpteenth time, will you shut the hell up? The Uchiha was brought down swiftly and he is even unconscious, plus I am a sensor, so I would know if chakra was being used at all and Naruto hasn't done any ninjutsu or genjutsu. Wake up and face reality, Sasuke Uchiha lost the match."

Then he turned to Naruto, "Congratulations, Naruto….you are the Rookie of the Year."

"Give the title to Sasuke-san…."

Then one girl asked, "Why? Are you admitting to cheating?"

"No, because I don't want the title to go to my head….besides now that Sasuke knows that I can beat him, he will begin to abhor the title until he beats me. As for the cheating, we are fuckin' ninja, we are supposed to cheat."

Next, the battle for the Kunoichi of the Year was underway, but mostly everyone decided to ignore the battles since they were mostly catfights and shouting matches since the majority of the girls were fan girls. Needless to say, Hinata became the Kunoichi of the Year, which she gracefully accepted since the accomplishment would please her stoic father.

"Alright, you are dismissed….tomorrow will be your graduating exam, so be sure to review the Henge, Kawarimi and Bunshin." Iruka said. Then the class has dispersed while Naruto took the courtesy of taking Sasuke back to his house….plus the fan girls were starting to creep him out with those weird looks they were giving the unconscious Uchiha.

"_Serenity, have you found the problem to the reason why I can't utilize the Bunshin no Jutsu." _Naruto asked telepathically. "The amount of chakra that you are using for the Bunshin no Jutsu is overloading it, even if you applied a little bit using your current chakra control, your chakra, mixed with a miniscule amount of the Kyuubi's chakra destroys it slowly….causing the dead and pale look on your clones." The A.I. replied.

"_So I could never use the Bunshin no Jutsu…..oh, well, at least Miko-chan taught me the Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu beforehand. Useful for training…" _Naruto said.

"Would you like to train in utilizing the Goryuuka no Jutsu, Naruto-sama?"

"_Yes, please send me the hand signs…"_

Instantly Naruto was given the hand signs and proceeded to practice them until he dropped in the forest. When he woke up, he heard the sounds of kunai clashing against each other. _"Funny, who would be training this late? I wonder who….wait a minute…." _Naruto thought as he focused his hearing to realize that it was Mizuki and Iruka.

"_Mizuki and Iruka-sensei fighting? That is a surprise, considering that they are friends….well, all people have their disputes, let's see if I can settle this."_

The nanites-enhanced boy came into the clearing to see that he was right and Mizuki had some big scroll on his back. The silver-haired chunin was able to knock out Iruka and was poised to kill him, but Naruto rushed out to give him a knee strike to the face.

"You!" Mizuki said as he got up, clutching his nose.

"Yes….me. Going somewhere, Mizuki?"

Mizuki gave the boy an evil smirk, "Good, I could frame you for this…..if you were dumb like that seal I put on you should have done, you stupid demon fox."

"_Seal?_" Naruto thought, _"Serenity, check for all seals excluding the Shiki Fujin…"_

"Acknowledged…scanning…..scan complete, it seems that you have a total of eleven seals on your body. With the nanites, you broke the two Yamanaka seals that inhibits your ability to retain information, four seals hindering your chakra control, a loyalty seal, a vanity seal, a judgment seal, a paralysis seal in case you leave the village without consent and a death seal."

"_Alright….I will deal with this problem later."_ Naruto replied to the A.I. By then, Mizuki was done with his rant and Naruto attacked the chunin at full speed….the chunin stood no chance as Naruto beat him into a pulp.

He took the scroll off of the defeated chunin and it opened to reveal the jutsu Kage Bunshin. "Hmm, Serenity, make a copy of the Scroll of Seals please…"

"Analyzing….the process will take thirty minutes and the ANBU Black Ops will be here in only five minutes."

"_Then just copy the Kage Bunshin instead….we will copy the scroll another time, that jutsu will be useful to use." _Naruto re-rolled the scroll and went over to the unconscious Iruka after Serenity finished copying the jutsu description and hand sign.

The ANBU arrived and took the scroll while Iruka was admitted into the hospital while Naruto sat beside him as he went over the seals on his body. The Death seal was planted by Homura Mitokado, the Loyalty and Paralysis seal were placed by Danzo Shimura, the Vanity seal was placed by Mita Haruno, Sakura's aunt, the Judgment seal was placed by Fugaku Uchiha and the Chakra Inhibitor seals were placed by Mizuki, Shisui Uchiha, Akito Akimichi and Sengoku Inuzuka, the two Yamanaka seals were placed by Tora and Taka Yamanaka.

Naruto was furious and spent the whole night, destroying the seal placed on his body….using the nanites that stole some of the Kyuubi's chakra. Then he went into the forest once again, away from the prying eyes of any Shinobi or civilian.

Naruto began to practice the hand signs until he was able to do it in a blur, then he applied chakra and shouted, "**Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!**" A small fireball shaped like a dragon head appeared and crashed into a tree, scorching the bark.

"_Good, it actually scorched the back, but the Jutsu is supposed to be like the Goukakyuu though?" _

"Unlike the Great Fireball Jutsu, therefore it requires more chakra to produce the desired effect, Naruto-sama." Serenity said in his mind, "Try again…"

Naruto nodded and this time, he applied more chakra to the jutsu, "**Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu!**" The fireball morphed into a dragon's head and attacked the tree, scorching the tree halfway into it. _"Better, but that jutsu took a lot…how much?"_

"About 25% of your reserves…."

"_But the Kage Bunshin takes up only 1%" _

"Your elemental affinities are non-existent, but it proves that fire will be a bit difficult for you to master unless you do elemental manipulation."

Naruto was now confused, _"What is that?"_

"According to the library database that was implanted by Orochimaru, every ninja is connected to at least one of the elements: fire, water, lightning, wind and earth. Through that affinity, you can perform elemental jutsu earlier, some more than others. Unfortunately, Orochimaru made it that I can't access this information until you are at Chunin level at least."

Naruto said, _"Clever man, it's okay, Serenity….I do want to be strong, but not too quickly to arouse suspicion about my true self. Now that is it for training, time to rest."_ The secret heir of the Namikaze clan strode to his home and slept.

Next day later, Naruto woke up early and went into the classroom to meditate just as everyone was walking in. Many of them stared at Naruto for a moment and continued talking, others tried to get his attention, but to no avail.

Soon the Uchiha came in and saw the so-called dobe sitting down Indian style in his chair with his eyes closed. "Hey, dobe, why are you praying? To pass this exam?"

Naruto said, noting, "Hmph, if you are praying that hard…..maybe you should quit." Again, Naruto said nothing, making the Uchiha bristle with anger at Naruto's 'ignorance'. The foolish Uchiha attacked Naruto with a punch, but then the Kyuubi jailor caught the punch and cracked one eye open.

"Please refrain from associating with me, Uchiha. Due to our test, you are going to need that hand of yours to pass and I would hate to have to explain it to the council why your wrist is broken." Sasuke's face began to grimace as Naruto's hand tightened around his wrist.

"Now dismiss yourself from my presence…" Sasuke moved away as usual, rubbing his wrist and his fan girls surrounded him. "Why are you always antagonizing Sasuke?" one of them said angrily at the boy.

"Yeah, he is the last Uchiha."

"Now does it look like I really care about his status….and he is not the last Uchiha, he is the last loyal male Uchiha….that is all."

_**(A/N: Alright, you all know who already passed, just picture that Naruto used the Tsuchi Bunshin)**_

A day later, the classmates that passed the test appeared in the classroom sat there, chatting.

Naruto chose to sit by Hinata as Iruka called out their teams. He had the unfortunate luck of the draw to get the resident emo who always challenged him to a fight, Sasuke Uchiha and on the upside; he got his old-time friend Sakura, though it would be difficult to make her see the light.

Soon they departed for a break, immediately Sasuke said, "Fight me, Uzumaki…"

"Look, we already went through this situation for the four hundred thirty third time….I will not fight you unless it is deemed necessary. We are supposed to be a team and I will not have your petty challenges and selfishness get in the way of this, alright, Sasuke-san?" Naruto said in an authoritative, monotone voice.

Then he stood up, "I'm hungry…do any of you two like to go to a restaurant?" Sasuke huffed and Sakura was a bit indecisive, she wanted to eat, but then Sasuke would be alone or she could stay to ask Sasuke to date her or at least, acknowledge her, but he would ignore her as always.

She made a decision….she chose to go with Naruto to Yakiniki Q. As they ate, Naruto asked, "So Sakura-san, have you been keeping up with your training?" The Haruno winced a bit at the suffix, but deep down, she knew that she deserved it.

After the Uchiha Massacre, she saw Sasuke lose his smile and she wanted to be the one who brought it back, in result, she broke off her friendship with Ino and Naruto to become her rival and ignored the Jinchuuriki for the past four years, passing him off as annoying.

"I have been slacking off a bit, but I will try not to bring this team down, Naruto." She replied after she swallowed her meat down her throat.

"Good to hear, but I am not worried about you that much. Sure, you may be the weakest person on our team in terms of strength, but in mind…that is different. I am worried about Uchiha-san; the massacre has seemed to have a deep effect on him more than he let on." Naruto replied.

"What do you mean?"

"The fact that his sibling destroyed his clan members to only two has caused an alarming effect on his mind. I think that Sasuke is like a lone wolf, he believes that he doesn't need anyone but himself, therefore this team is useless."

Sakura said, "Maybe if you fight him, he will be willing to work with us."

Naruto shook his head, "No, then his inferiority complex will kick in, he wants to be strong, strong enough to kill his brother. I am a measuring tool to him ever since I broke the record, plus I'm physically stronger than Choji and faster than Kiba even in the bestial form."

Sakura said, "So what do you suggest? I know Sasuke-kun is like that a bit."

"The one I can actually see who can tolerate and deal with him is you…but he will not notice you if you keep asking him on dates. He likes strong women like his mother, Mikoto-san. Therefore you must not slack off on your own training if you want to win Sasuke's heart and bring back his smile back…Sakura-san."

Sakura stuttered, "Y-You think that I-I can do it?"

"You or Ino-san are the closest to do it, but you seem more determined than her." Naruto said with a smile, "Okay, looks like it is time to return back to meet our sensei." Two hours later, Sakura and Naruto's eyes were twitching and Sasuke was just sitting there, brooding and glancing at Naruto once in a while.

Finally a silver-haired man with his headband over his right eye walked in with his orange book in hand, "Ohayo…."

Sakura said, interrupting, "You are late…sensei."

"I'm sorry; I got lost on the road of life."

Naruto thought with a sweat drop, _"That was the worst lie I have ever heard in my existence."_

The Jonin said, "Meet me on the roof, so we can introduce ourselves in some new scenery.

Serenity said to Naruto, "That is Kakashi Hatake, former ANBU commander, codename: Inu, he is known as Sharingan no Kakashi or the Copy Ninja. He is said to known over a thousand jutsu and his eye was obtained by Obito Uchiha, his own teammate who was killed in action during the Third Great Shinobi War and his other teammate, Rin is missing, presumed dead."

Naruto thought, _"So Inu-san is here, never knew he was so late in crucial things, at least he wasn't late when he was in the ANBU Black Ops." The four of them reached the roof and the genin sat on the steps while Kakashi sat on the railing."_

"Alright, now let's introduce ourselves…likes, dislikes, hobbies, etc." he said.

"How about you start off, sensei? You are kind of suspicious…" Sakura said.

Kakashi replied, "Fine, I'm Kakashi Hatake, my likes….you don't need to know, my dislikes…hmm, my hobbies…I have lots of them and my dream….maybe later. Your turn!" Every genin's thought was he only given out his name.

"I'm Sakura Haruno, my likes are anmitsu and a certain boy, my dislikes are arguing and my rival Ino Yamanaka, my hobbies are sewing and dancing, my dream is to become a great kunoichi."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, my likes are my friends, training and food, my dislikes are traitors, arrogant people, needless fighting and corrupt people as well as a certain fox, my hobbies are cooking, training and playing the violin or piano, my dream is to become a strong ninja."

"Sasuke Uchiha, I have little likes, my dislikes are cowards, my brother and weaklings, my hobbies are training and my dream…ambition is to kill a man that has wronged my clan."

"You know…." Naruto said, "It is no secret that Itachi Uchiha, your brother killed your clan, Sasuke, you can say it out loud."

"Alright, enough….just so you know, you are technically not genin yet."Kakashi said as he noticed that Sasuke was about to retort.

"What?" Sakura said in surprise.

"Yes, you must pass my test tomorrow…but the scary part is that this test has 66.6% chance of failure. Meet me at training area 3 at eight in the morning and don't eat or you will throw up." The team departed and trained a bit in preparation of the test, Naruto slept in since Serenity gave the information that Kakashi was always two hours late unless it was for a mission and ate a breakfast of cereal and buttered toast.

When he reached the training area, he found that Sakura and Sasuke were hungry, tired and looking a bit pissed. "Where were you, Naruto? You are never late until now…" Sakura said angrily.

"I asked around about our sensei after we parted ways….turns out that he has a chronic lateness thing. He is always late by two or three hours unless the Hokage requested of him." Naruto somewhat lied.

Then the Jinchuuriki took off his pack and began to assemble a crossbow, making Sasuke ask, "What are you doing, Uzumaki?"

"Setting up traps….whatever the test is, we are going to have to fight him."

Sasuke said, "How do you know that we are going to fight him?"

"He obviously said it…the training ground, you can't come here unless you are physically training and have a ninja license, also he told us no to eat anything to make us weaker, more susceptible to getting tired." Naruto explained as he tested the bolt, which sank into the tree that he was aiming at.

"Good, now to place them." Naruto said to himself. Using wires, he set up traps at points he hoped that Kakashi wouldn't notice and made sure that his teammates were watching where he put them, so they could avoid it.

"Now….I will need the two of you to work with me, so we can pass whatever test we got."

Sasuke demanded, "Why? You realized that you are weak?"

"Uchiha, neither you nor I have the power or experience in defeating a Jonin-level ninja. Kakashi-sensei was once the student of the Yondaime Hokage, meaning that he is very powerful. Unless we can put aside our differences, we have absolutely no chance in winning at all." Naruto said, "In terms of fighting, he is much on the level of Itachi, maybe slightly lower. Plus we all don't want to go back to the Academy, right?"

Sasuke reluctantly nodded and said, "Fine, but if this doesn't work, I am taking him out myself."

"Agreed…"

Soon Kakashi came into the clearing, "Yo!"

"You are late!" Sakura shouted.

The Jonin ignored her as he pulled out an alarm clock and put 3 bentos on top of the stumps. "Okay, it is almost time." Kakashi said, "Listen up, I am only explaining this once." The three genin stood to attention as the silver-haired Jonin held out two bells attached to strings and stated, "Your objective….to get these bells from me under the time limit. You can use ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu…anything to get these bells from me."

Sakura said, "What happened to the one who doesn't get a bell?"

"That person will be tied to the stumps and watch as the rest of his or her teammates and myself eat a bento in front of them. When fighting me, I suggest that you come at me with lethal force." Kakashi said seriously.

Sasuke said, "Hmph, I bet all of us can kick your ass without breaking a sweat."

"So says the Rookie of the Year."

Sasuke bristled in anger and charged at him with a kunai in hand. Naruto's eyes caught Kakashi's movements as the Jonin took the Uchiha's armed hand to place it behind the head of the young genin. "Maa, maa….I didn't tell you guys to start yet." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"_He is very fast, I could hardly keep up with him a bit when he did that maneuver, well…he is my father's best student due to his record."_ Naruto thought. The Jonin released Sasuke and said, "Okay, ready….start!" Everyone separated into the bushes and Kakashi took out a look as he thought, _"Everyone is hidden well….wait, Naruto, he disappeared?"_

Suddenly the Jonin took a few steps forward and Sakura pulled a string to activate one of Naruto's traps, a crossbow shot three bolts and Kakashi jumped back only for a rope to wrap around his ankle. The Jonin quickly cut the rope off to jump back into another crossbow trap.

"_How the hell did I not see this at all? All of these traps are well hidden…surely Sasuke nor Sakura couldn't have…Naruto…"_ the Jonin thought to himself. Naruto smirked as he signaled Sasuke to join in the fray, _"Looks like he has figured it out now for the Uchiha to lure over to the real trap while Sakura is setting up the grand finale."_

The Uchiha leapt in the air as he flipped through hand signs and shouted, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Kakashi's eyes widened, _"Even a genin shouldn't be able to do that jutsu yet either." _Kakashi replaced himself with a log only for a trap to activate and shoot out kunai at the Jonin.

The Yondaime's former student ran into the forest to avoid them and saw Sakura running and he followed her silently, soon he came into a place where Sakura was muttering, "Where is Sasuke-kun?" Kakashi sighed in relief and said, "Sakura, behind you!"

She turned to see Kakashi use a seal as he stated, **"Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!"** Sakura was silent and then she screamed and fell backwards. Kakashi said, "Finally…something…" Then he heard Sakura shout, **"Fubaku Hojin!"** The explosive tags surrounding Kakashi placed on four trees trapped the Jonin, causing him to be unable to move.

Then Naruto came out to take the bells and said, "Good job, Sakura….we passed the test regardless that these aren't the real bells."

"What?" Sakura said.

"That was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu after one hit…" He slapped the clone and it dissipates into a puff of smoke. "C'mon, I sense that Kakashi is at the stumps with Sasuke.

Stump- "Each of you has passed, I am surprised that you three were able to work together despite that you didn't get the bells." Sakura said, "Actually, sensei, Naruto was the one who figured out the test and all, plus he did set up the traps."

Kakashi thought, _"So he was the one who did it….fits his profile as a bit of a strategist like Shikamaru. He must have convinced the two of them to work together through some logic."_ Then he said, "Look at this stone, this stone holds the names of all of the ninjas….who gladly gave their lives for this village….so I want you to remember this: Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

Naruto gave a soft smile, _"You know, the way he said that was kind of cool."_ He thought to himself. Kakashi said, "Alright, while we eat….I need to know what are your jutsu, strengths and weaknesses." Sasuke said, "I know my family jutsu, which are all Katon jutsu, the Academy jutsu, taijutsu….I don't pay attention to my weaknesses."

Sakura replied, "I have good chakra control, taijutsu and only know the Academy jutsu, my weaknesses are stamina and arsenal of jutsu."

Naruto replied, "I know all of the D-rank jutsu in this village and can perform them without hand signs, some of the C-rank, taijutsu….my weaknesses are genjutsu, almost practically the whole library is my arsenal as of this moment."

Everyone's eyes widened, "What?"

"Yeah, after each day, I went to the library to learn jutsu besides the Academy jutsu. The D-Rank I have in my arsenal such as the Shunshin or Kanashibari are all mastered, all I need is the chakra molding."

Sasuke thought, _"This loser mastered his jutsu to the point of no hand signs? Just how powerful you are, Uzumaki?" _

Kakashi said, _"This is particular, but he shouldn't be able to progress this fast with those seals on his mind." _Then he said, "Alright, then, Team Seven will officially start their mission first thing in the afternoon tomorrow." With that, each of them left to their homes.


	4. A Ninja's Job Description

**Chapter 4- A Ninja's Job Description**

Naruto was walking home until an ANBU with a Neko mask attached to her face. "Uzumaki-san, Hokage-sama would like to see you for a moment." Naruto nodded silently and the woman took the young ninja to the tower. When they reached and walked inside the door, Sarutobi said, "Ah, Naruto…come in, I assume that you know why you are here."

Naruto said quietly, "I assumed that Kakashi-sensei notified you that I can do D-rank jutsu without using any hand signs and my…extraordinary capabilities?"

"Yes, that is correct…you know the whole library and you can do D-rank jutsu without hand signs."

"Yes, I can….it's easier considering that I have no parents and hardly any friends, I didn't have to do anything except train, sleep and go to the Academy. Most of them are clan heirs and their parents are still wary of me because of me holding the Kyuubi no Kitsune." Naruto stated.

Sarutobi and Neko flinched and the ANBU said, "How do you know about that?"

"Mizuki happened to tell me before I beat the shit out of him until he turned into a meat puppet. Now the real question is why you didn't tell me about it. Most of the village's population knows about my secret except me, how the hell does that work?"

Sarutobi said, "It was in the best interest that you didn't know about it until you were ready to know."

Naruto said with a hint of anger, "Oh and when was that going to be? When I became a chunin? Jonin? ANBU? You could have told me when I got out of the Academy, so I could have figured out a way to use its power rather than stumbling on it and going out destroying things like a common child playing with scissors….I could have potentially killed someone by accident."

Sarutobi replied, "That could have been one of the scenarios, so I took some precautions in the events of that scenario."

"So it was you who authorized those seals on me as well?" Naruto questioned.

"What are you talking about?" Sarutobi said.

"Don't play dumb with me, Hokage-sama. I am talking about the Yamanaka seals that inhibit my mind….you authorized it and don't try to lie to me. I have trained myself to sense when people lie. When you lie, your eyes tend to flicker up to the left, indicating that you are story-weaving instead of remembering events. "

Sarutobi sighed in defeat and replied, "Yes, I authorized those seals to be placed on you and those were the only ones that put there, so you could be a bit hindered in the intelligence department, but how did you know about them?"

"I destroyed them last night….the Kyuubi was so grateful to tell me about them and in turn, I stole some of its chakra to destroy them the night Iruka-sensei was hospitalized. I understand your position, but you should have told me about this to avoid this conversation that we are having now."

Sarutobi bowed his head slightly as he muttered, "Just like Yakumo-san…" Naruto heard his muttering due to his advanced hearing and thought, _"Serenity, check the database of the whole population: search for the name of Yakumo."_

"Searching….thirty hits on the name of Yakumo, both civilian and ninja."

"_Narrow it down…she is a former ninja and has a seal placed on her."_

"Yakumo Kurama, the heiress of the Kurama Clan and sole survivor of the main branch. Her mind was sealed by her tutor, Kurenai Yuhi by order of the Third Hokage. Her clan's specialty is genjutsu, their illusions are so powerful that they can create real effects. Due to the drawbacks of her power since she was the most powerful of them, causing her body to become very fragile and created a second personality, dubbed as the Ido. It is a monster that could take over and use her power for destructive purposes. Yakumo uses her paintings as a medium to direct it…..she is currently under surveillance by ANBU and medics."

Naruto said, _"Serenity, what is my blood type?"_

"AB positive….hers is the blood type O positive."

"_I see, I will need you to convert my blood type to O positive."_

"Yes, Naruto-sama, it will take two weeks to do so." Naruto was silent and then thought, _"Postpone that until I tell you to do so…"_

"Understood…"

Naruto turned to Sarutobi, who was talking, but luckily Serenity brought him up to speed, so Sarutobi or Neko wouldn't get suspicious about him talking to the Kyuubi. Naruto answered, "Fine, Sarutobi-jii-san."

"Good, now that we understand each other for now, I will let you go…just promise me that you will not contact the Kyuubi under no circumstances, got it?"

Naruto nodded, "Of course I won't, the bastard was rather too rude, demanding me to release it from its prison and he will think about sparing me." With that, he left the presence of Sarutobi and Neko to go home. Sarutobi thought_, "Hmm, I guess that I can trust you, Naruto…but I will have Kakashi keep an eye on you."_

The Jinchuuriki went into his make-shift work-study and sat down to work on his latest project. By using some of the nanites that were infused with the Kyuubi's chakra, he could harness it without calling on the Kyuubi itself, extracting the nanites from his blood and putting into the half-sphere of the metal gloves on top, he named it the C.K. X-Gloves also known as the Corrosive Kyuubi X-Gloves.

"Finally, it is complete, now to test it…." He put one of the gloves and it glows with a blood red-orange light as Naruto activated it by tapping the glove's half-sphere. He put it on and pointed the glove at the dummy that he set up.

He soon found out that he could have the chakra cover his fist without burning himself and sent out blasts of the chakra before the nanites had to recharge themselves, he could only do five consecutive blasts, each of them were the size of the average human head and the dummy was reduced to flaming pieces.

"Success, but it seems that it dims a bit after each use." He took them off and then he put them aside to settle down for the night. After three weeks, Naruto laid low, considering he knew that Kakashi was ordered to watch over him.

As soon as he caught Tora for the fifty-fifth time in his life, he decided to deal with Tora's problem. "Tora, sweetie, come to mommy." Lady Shijimi called out and then Naruto felt Tora's claws sink into his chest and said, "Lady Shijimi, before I hand Tora over to you, may I speak?"

"You may…"

Naruto took a deep breath and said, "I believe that I know the problem over Tora's habit of running away…"

"Oh, what is it?"

"With all due respect, Lady Shijimi, but I believe it is the way you are handling her…"

"Excuse me?"

"You are practically smothering Tora a bit too much. I am going to set Tora down in the middle and let her come to either of us. Hokage-sama will know the instant I use chakra at all in case you believe that I am controlling her."

He set Tora down in the middle and said, "Stay, Tora, good girl." Then the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki went over to the end, further away from the middle and Lady Shijimi would have the advantage. "Here, Tora, come to Mommy…" Shijimi called out.

Tora stiffened and looked at her once and then ran towards Naruto, who picked up the female cat and petted her gently as he walked toward the Fire Lady. "Mistress, as of this moment, Tora is afraid of you because of the way you handle her. To prevent this, I want to help you, so Tora will never leave your side."

He spent the next twenty minutes, showing the Fire Lady how to properly hold and care for Tora. Soon Tora grew comfortable in her owner's arms and Lady Shijimi said, "Thanks, um…what is your name, young man?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, at your service, ma'am…"

"Naruto, thank you for helping me with Tora, you took quite a risk there."

Naruto smiled, "Taking risks to help others is a part of the ninja's job description…" Then he looked at Tora as he scratched her chin, "Now you behave, Tora….got it?" Tora purred and let out a soft meow indicating that she was happy and Naruto smiled, "Good…"

Lady Shijimi left the Hokage Tower after giving him a favor card, telling him that he could ask of her or her husband. Soon Sasuke turned to the Hokage and said, "Hokage-sama, can we have a better mission than doing these chores please?"

Sarutobi replied, "I am sorry, Sasuke, but you are not experienced enough to handle a C-Rank mission, you are merely rookies." The Uchiha argued, "And how exactly D-Rank missions are supposed to ready us for a C-Rank missions in the future. Considering the fact that most genin die on mere C-Rank missions are high, going on one C-rank for at least once a month could prepare new genin to act accordingly."

Naruto thought, _"Hmm, it seems that Sasuke tends to grow a brain miraculously when he wants something."_

Sarutobi thought to himself, _"He is right….hmm, I guess we could test it, let's see how Team Seven handles a C-Rank mission."_ He pulled a scroll from the 'C' pile and said, "Fine…Team Seven; you will escort a man back to his village, protecting him from bandits. Send the client please…"

Suddenly an old man with a straw hat and a sake bottle appeared in the doorway, "What is this, all I get are snot-nosed brats."

The Jinchuuriki replied coolly, "Would you rather leave us leave you at the mercy of whoever wants you and the money you have?" The man shut up quickly and Naruto said, "I thought so…"

"I'm Tazuna, a renowned bridge builder and I expect you all to protect me with your lives."

Kakashi turned to his genin and said, "Team, I want you to pack for at least two weeks and meet back at 1100 hours."

**Gates-** Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna came at the gate at 1030 and then Kakashi showed up at 1045 along with Naruto, who was wearing a tight, dark grey shirt and tight black pants with hexagon signs _**(A/N: Picture Southpole logo)**_ travelling up to his knees. On the back of the grey shirt was a black cross. He also had his new C.K. X-Gloves on his hands, only his pointer fingers were exposed.

He also had black shinobi sandals and two kunai holsters on each leg. "What is up with the attire, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"I figure something is going to happen and needed to get rid of that jumpsuit." Naruto replied when in actuality, the jumpsuit was a chakra inhibitor along with a tracking seal itself, planted by one of the ANBU that hated him.

His or her codename was Panther and he made a mental note to prank and/or humiliate the bastard. Then Sasuke asked, "What about the gloves and gold rings around your wrists?"

"The gloves are to regulate chakra to act as a repulsion device or send out blasts of flaming chakra, they can also burn the person or thing that I am aiming or punching at. As for the rings, they are suppressing my chakra."

They left immediately and they were silent until Sakura decided to break the silence.

Sakura said, "So, umm, Tazuna-san."

Tazuna said, "What?"

Sakura asked, "You are from the Wave country, right?"

Tazuna answered, "So what of it?"

Sakura turned to Kakashi, "Are there any ninjas in that country?"

Kakashi said, "No, not in Wave, but there are others…the culture and customs are different, but hidden villages do exist along with their own ninja. In many countries, the meaning of a shinobi village is that it has military power. An island country like Wave doesn't hold any interference with a shinobi village and therefore doesn't need any ninja protecting them. Within the various countries, the ones that stand out are Konoha, Kiri, Kumo, Suna and Iwa. Thus they are referred to as the Five Great Shinobi Countries; they are ones that have leaders called 'Kages'. The five Kages, Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and the Tsuchikage are the ones that rule over the thousands of ninja all over the world."

Sakura said, "So then we won't encounter any foreign ninjas?"

Kakashi said, "Of course not, there is never any kind of ninja combat on a C-Rank mission."

They passed a puddle and Naruto tapped his gloves to activate them just as he heard a whistling sound and he turned to see Kakashi trapped in a bladed chain with two Mist ninja attached to the ends. "One down…" One of them said.

Then Kakashi was cut into bloodied chunks and then the ninjas appeared behind Naruto as they said in unison, "Two down."

Naruto crossed his arms and aimed at their chest, "Yeah….two down."

He blasted their chest point blank, causing severe burns on the torso and they fell to the floor, writhing in pain. Sasuke rushed in with ambition to attack one of the twins mercilessly while Naruto moved to the other one and placed him in a sleeper hold.

"Alright, Sasuke, he is unconscious, no need to punish his face now." He said calmly and Sasuke got off of him with a blush while Kakashi appeared out of the shadows, "Well done, you two…"

Sakura asked, "How did you…."

The three ninja answered, "Kawarimi..."

Tazuna asked angrily, "Why did you do that?"

"I need to see who they were after….it seemed that they were after you, Tazuna. Care to explain why these ninja are after you and don't even try to lie." Kakashi said with a stare.

Tazuna said, "My village is very poor and we didn't have enough money to afford over a C-Rank."

Kakashi said, "Due to the ninja, that means that this should be a B-Rank or even an A-Rank mission now. We are operating outside our duties now."

Sakura said, "I think that we should quit, this mission is way too advanced for us."

Kakashi said in a serious tone, "I suggest that you start telling us the reason, Tazuna-san."

Tazuna said, "The truth is…my village is very poor and there is a super dangerous man that is after my life now. His name is Gato."

Kakashi said, "_The_ Gato of Gato Company?"

Tazuna nodded, "He officially runs a shipping company, but secretly he sells drugs, illegal items and women along with children as slaves, using ninjas and thugs to take over countries and businesses. I understand that if you don't want to continue, my daughter would be miserable over my death and my grandson would hate Konoha with his whole heart."

Kakashi and Naruto sweat dropped, "We will continue the mission…." The Jonin said.

**Tree Fortress-** "Failed? What the hell do you mean, failed?" a short, pudgy man shouted. "If you are supposed to be the best, I wouldn't have paid big for your skills."

The man took his sword and held up dangerously close to the midget's face, "Do stop your bitching, there's nothing to worry about. I, with Kubikiri Houcho, will take the hit myself along with my colleague here."

Gato gulped, "The enemy has hired ninjas with tremendous skills and since the Oni Brothers have failed, they will on guard."

The man said, "Hmph, remember who you are speaking to, I'm Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist."

**Later in the Forest**- "There!" Naruto said, snapping a shuriken in the bushes. The two groups stopped as the Jinchuuriki investigated to see a rabbit twitching and forth bubbling from its mouth.

Sasuke snickered, "Only a rabbit? You are afraid of a rabbit?"

Naruto took the rabbit and gave it to Sakura to pet and sooth the scarred bunny, ignoring Sasuke's comment and asked, "Sakura, what kind of hare is that?"

Sakura inspected the rabbit and said, "It's a snow hare."

Naruto nodded, "That is right, their fur always changes colors with the seasons. Since it is spring now, its fur is supposed to be brown now."

Sakura caught on, "But its fur is white, which means….someone kept it as a pet and used it as a decoy."

"Which means…someone is…duck!" Naruto shouted and he took Tazuna and Sakura. Sasuke and Kakashi also ducked to avoid a large sword spinning over their heads and sank into the tree.

Kakashi said, "Zabuza Momochi."

Serenity said, "Zabuza Momochi, an A-rank nukenin from Kirigakure, specializes in water jutsu and the Silent Killing technique. He attempted to assassinate the Sandaime Mizukage, but the plan failed and he was forced to flee. He is also a former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist and the reason that the Bloody Genin Exams were ended since he slaughtered over 100 students in cold blood to graduate."

Naruto thought, _"Looks like sensei will have a bit of difficulty, dealing with this guy."_

Zabuza said, "Sorry to bother you four, but I need you to hand over the old man." Kakashi said, "Unfortunately we can't do that. Team 7, protect Tazuna, Manji formation."

He uncovered his headband to reveal his Sharingan eye, "I will handle this." Zabuza said, "A shame, oh well, at least I get to fight against you, Kakashi." Then Zabuza pulled out Kubikiri Houcho and stepped on to the lake, **"Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu**!" The rogue Jonin faded from their sight.

Kakashi thought, _"Since he is known to be proficient in the art of silent killing, he'll come after me first."_ Sakura shouted, "The mist is getting thicker." Then Zabuza's disembodied voice, "Eight choices: Liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, jugular vein, brain, kidneys and heart. So many choices, which one should I go after?"

Then a blast of killing intent hit everyone, but Naruto shook it off due to the mob attacks, on the other hand, Sasuke was gripping his kunai and was freaking out. _"So…this is it, a battle between Jonin…the air is so thick with suspense…it makes you want to kill yourself to end it."_

"Sasuke…calm down, I will protect you to my last breath." Kakashi said.

They looked up in the Jonin's face as he said, "I will not allow my comrades to die!"

Everyone blushed at the saying as Zabuza appeared in the middle of the Manji formation, "I wouldn't bet on that!" Zabuza swung the cleaver, "Game….Over!"

Kakashi moved quickly and stabbed Zabuza in the stomach, only for him to turn into water and the real Zabuza appeared behind the Jonin. "Sensei, behind you!" Naruto cried out, but it was too late.

Sakura screamed as Kakashi was sliced in half in front of her, but then the blood turned into water as well. _"What? A Mizu Bunshin? He was able to copy me in this mist?"_ the ex-Mist nin thought.

"Don't move!" Kakashi said as he held a kunai to his neck, "It's over!"

Zabuza chuckled, "You are good, Kakashi, I admit that. You managed to copy my Mizu Bunshin and actually made it say something you would say. On top of that, you yourself even used the Kirigakure no Jutsu to hide yourself. Clever…but not clever enough!"

Zabuza chuckled louder, "Heheheheh….it's over? Yeah, right!" The real Zabuza appeared behind the Sharingan wielder, "I am not that easy to fool."

Sakura said, "That one was a fake one too!"

Zabuza swung Kubikiri Houcho at the Jonin's head, but Kakashi ducked as Zabuza used the momentum and the pommel of his sword to send a powerful kick to Kakashi. Sakura shouted, "Sensei!" Sasuke thought, _"So he is strong in taijutsu and ninjutsu."_

"Caltrops?" Zabuza said, looking at the bank of the river, "What do you think I am, a fool?"

Kakashi popped out of the water, _"Why….is this water….so heavy?"_ he thought.

Then Zabuza appeared behind him, "**Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu**!" Kakashi cursed, "Damn, I was too careless." Zabuza said, "It will be a bit easier if you can't move…we will finish things later. **Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

A clone appeared on the shore, "Hehe, you all play act ninja except for those three. But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death."

"Run! You three are no match for Zabuza and his clone can't follow you for long." Kakashi cried out.

"Those who break the rules are trash…but those who abandon their comrades…are worse than trash." Naruto stated as he ran forward at Zabuza with his right hand in flames. He jumped in the air and shouted, "Take this! **Blaze Rush!**"

He put out his fist out to the Mizu Bunshin, scorching it into steam and then took out a folded shuriken from his pack, **"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!"** He launched it at the man and Zabuza said, "Amateur…"

He caught the shuriken, but a second shuriken was sprang forward, but Zabuza jumped over it as he said, "No shuriken can touch me!" The Shuriken changed into the real Naruto with a kunai in hand and replied, "Then how about a kunai?"

He launched it and Zabuza had to move to avoid it, only to suffer a scratch on his cheek. "You little brat!" the swordsman yelled out, only for Kakashi to resurface in time to block Zabuza's assault on Naruto, catching the Fuuma Shuriken on the back of his glove. "You….are not touching my student!" Kakashi said with a glare.

Zabuza's eyes widened at the glare before regaining his composure. "Good work, Naruto! Your scheme was brilliant." Kakashi said with a smile.

Then he glared at Zabuza, "Just so you know, the same trick doesn't work twice on me, so shall we?"

Zabuza and Kakashi jumped away and did hand signs at breakneck speed, finally ending with the Tori sign. "**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!**" Everyone watched as the two water dragons battled it out. "_So many hand signs…but in seconds, he copied them perfectly."_ Sasuke thought.

The water fell to see Kakashi and Zabuza at a standstill. "_Strange, what's going on?"_ Zabuza thought as he jumped away, _"He…copied my movements….completely…"_ Kakashi finished, "Reading them?" Zabuza thought in shock, "_The hell? Is he reading my mind? Damn it, that…."_

Kakashi voiced, "Freaky eye is pissing me off, right?"

Zabuza shouted, "You can't beat me, you monkey bastard. I'll make it so you can never open that mouth again!" He flipped through hand signs until he saw something unnerving, _"That….That is….me?" That's impossible, is this a genjutsu?"_ Kakashi saw his chance and shouted, **"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"**

Zabuza said, "What? Impossible!" He was blasted by the water vortex as he thought, _"He did my jutsu before I was able to perform it."_ His back slammed into the tree and Kakashi threw kunai, pinning him to the tree.

"It's over….Zabuza Momochi." He said.

"Can…you see into the future?" Zabuza said fearfully. "

Yes..." The copycat answered, "I saw your future…death." Before the nukenin could reply, two needles stuck themselves deeply into his neck.

"Heh heh….it seemed your prediction came true."

The Konoha ninja along with Tazuna turned to see a masked figure in a tree. Kakashi checked Zabuza's pulse, seeing that he was truly dead. "Thank you for helping me take down Zabuza." The hunter ninja said with a bow.

Kakashi said, "You're welcome, hunter-nin."

The hunter nin shunshined down and grabbed the corpse. "Your battle is over for now and he must be disposed of or the enemy will reveal our secrets." Then Kakashi took down his headband and fell on the floor, unable to move.

**Tazuna's house-** "Are you two going to be alright?" Tsunami asked worriedly. Kakashi answered, "We should recover in a week and Zabuza will have to do the same." Sakura shouted, "With you down, how can we defeat someone that even you couldn't defeat?"

"Training….first thing in the morning." Kakashi answered.


	5. The Wave's Crest

_**Hakureisaiga-Ok, I would like to thank everyone for their reviews and now to answer a few points from the last chapter. Also it is still undecided on a harem as of this moment, so Saya (OC) may or may not be in the harem or I just may pass her off.**_

_**YHC-No, the nanites can change the gender at all, only the genetic structure of his body like his blood type, eye color, hair color and length, stuff like that. **_

_**Volos- Naruto is pissed about Sarutobi, as of right now, there is no trust between Sarutobi and himself. He will be wary of him and Kakashi since he deduced that Kakashi will be his watcher**_

_**Deathmvp-I have read it over myself in my spare time and realized that you pull up an interesting point and have revised the confrontation somewhat. Thank you for your honest opinion!**_

**Chapter 5-The Wave's Crest**

"Okay, today I am going to teach you how to climb trees using chakra only. To do so, you must send chakra to the soles of your feet and walk, or in this case, run up the tree. Use your kunai to mark your progress if you fall off and then try to surpass that mark. If you can master this type of exercise, then there is no jutsu that you can't master." Kakashi explained to his team.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura pulled out their kunai from their pouch and ran at their designated tree in front of them. Sasuke moved up quickly on his tree, but then he accidently put too much chakra and crushed the bark, he pushed off the trunk and managed to cut his mark on the tree before he bounced off from tree to tree until he landed on the ground.

Naruto ran up his tree for a bit and then he felt his control slipping, so he grabbed a branch and sat on it before he lost his footing and slashed his mark, he noticed that he was slightly behind Sasuke, but it was due to his own capacity of chakra.

"This is easy…" Sakura said and everyone looked to see that Sakura was sitting on a branch way higher than Naruto. "Looks like the one with the best chakra control is Sakura." Kakashi said with his lone eye smiling, then he thought, _"But I would never expect Naruto to get close to Sasuke that easily in this exercise since he has the most chakra here, exceeding my own."_

Naruto jumped down from his position and tried again, getting much farther than where he marked at. He went back to the ground again as he thought, _"This is interesting…so the objective is to find the right amount of chakra to use. You do too much and you will crush the tree and if you do too little, you don't stick and fall off the tree, I was a bit close…time to see if I can get this the right way."_

The Jinchuuriki walked to his tree and put his foot on the tree, when he was sure that he had the right amount, he placed his other foot on the tree and slowly walked up his tree. Sasuke looked at the Jinchuuriki and was incensed that he was surpassing him in this exercise as Naruto came back down a few minutes later from reaching the top.

Naruto noticed this and walked towards him and whispered, "I know that you don't want my help, but if you want to master your own jutsu and this exercise…you will need to calm down."

Sasuke thought to himself, _"Calm down? What is that supposed to….wait, if I become calm; I can become focused on this exercise to find the right amount of chakra to use. Alright, dobe, let's see if your theory is correct."_ Sasuke ran up the tree and got farther than Naruto's second mark on his third try and he smirked, _"Looks like you were right….Naruto."_

"Alright, looks like everyone has gotten the hang of it. Now if you want to increase your chakra capacity, you can keep doing this exercise until you feel slightly exhausted or out of breath. So Sasuke…Sakura, you have the option of continuing if you want. Naruto, you can do other training and tomorrow, you will guard Tazuna." Kakashi instructed.

Naruto nodded at this and Sasuke said, "Wait a minute, why doesn't he have to do the exercise anymore?"

"Because, Uchiha, I have the chakra capacity rivaling the average Kage-level Shinobi and sensei did say that it was optional, but it would be a waste of time doing the exercise with my chakra levels. As to why I have that much chakra, which is probably your next question, I believe that I have inherited it from one of my parents or something."

The Jinchuuriki bowed respectfully to Kakashi and said, "I will be at the house." Then he turned to walk to the house and unsealed his new blueprints of his latest projects…one was a metal gauntlet with a hidden blade mechanism (1), another was a small disk that explodes on impact and lastly a leather glove that was covered with metal and had claws on the end of the fingers (2).

He also wanted a crossbow, but the ones in Konoha were made out of white pine or Douglass fir, he needed something made out of hickory or oak…he was lucky enough to find out that Wave Country had an abundance of oak trees. Now all he needed was a blacksmith to mold the bolts and make the gauntlets, so he ventured into the town and found a blacksmith at work.

"Hello, kid, are you a bit young to be wielding a weapon?" The man asked. He was a bronze-colored man with a beard and appeared to be in his forties, wearing a black vest with an apron and blue pants. His hair was a dark purple and his eyes were forest green.

"Yes, I am…my name is Naruto Uzumaki, I am a ninja and a bit of an inventor."

"The name's Nekoshi Murama. So you are one of the guys that Tazuna hired, huh? What do you need?"

"I want you to make two gauntlets, one made out of metal and the other one will be leather with metal covering it to protect my hand. The metal gauntlet will have a four and a half inch blade hidden inside of ht. Also I need at least 100 bolts for a crossbow…do you have enough metal for that?"

Nekoshi replied, "Unfortunately I don't…I have been making weapons for Gato's men, it is the only reason why my establishment is still up, but I will have to thank them a bit since the money I used was for Tazuna to hire you guys."

Naruto took a scroll from his pouch and unsealed a large slab of metal that he had, "Will this do?"

Nekoshi smiled, "This is enough to make twice of your bolts and have some left over to make your gauntlets. It will take me about three days to finish all of them." Naruto nodded and he said, "Here are the plans, I will be back to pay you when it is finished." The Jinchuuriki went in the woods to see Sasuke running up the tree again and Sakura was resting against her tree.

"_Serenity, check chakra levels of subject Sasuke Uchiha and subject Sakura Haruno."_ Naruto said and his eyes became cybernetic and dilate much like a camera's lens to scan their bodies. "Sasuke Uchiha currently has 34% of his chakra left and Sakura has only 40% of her chakra." Serenity replied.

"_Hmm…I guess I could help Sakura out tomorrow, she looks very tired as it is."_ Naruto thought to himself, _"Time to train…"_ The secretive boy moved to a tree and began to practice his taijutsu moves and combos of punches and kicks until Kakashi recalled each of them back to the house at the end of the day for dinner.

**March 23, A.K- 2:00 PM-Bridge-** Naruto was hard at work, he decided to kill two birds with one stone, using Kage Bunshin to help work on the bridge as well as keeping a close eye on Tazuna was a good idea. Since the Kage Bunshin wasn't a big deal on his reserves.

He also realized quickly that information was given to the original user after a clone was dispelled; he knew that for him, it was the ultimate training regiment for a person like him. "Huh? What do you mean; you want to stop, Giichi?" Tazuna said in utter surprise and disbelief.

Naruto glanced over to see his client arguing with his old time friend. Giichi replied, "It's too dangerous to work on this now, Gato is much too strong." Tazuna gritted his teeth and replied, "Fine, but I am not giving up…he can threaten me all he wants, but I will not stop until this bridge is finished…Giichi…you don't have to come in tomorrow."

The old man picked up a board and turned to work on the bridge. Later on, Naruto and Tazuna went to the grocery store to buy food, but the Jinchuuriki frowned at the state of the village. There was hardly any food and he was shocked to see that a mere child was forced to resort to begging to get food and saw how his eyes lit up when he gave him some candy.

"_I am going to make sure that this bridge is completed…no one will stop us this from happening."_ Naruto thought as he clenched his gloved fist. That night, Sakura noticed a torn picture on the wall, prompting Tazuna to tell the story of Kaiza's life and death at the hands of Gato.

Naruto went towards the door and Sakura asked, "Where are you going, Naruto? It is dark outside…"

"To train a bit, I might be late." He answered as he went out the door and travelled deep into the woods to train until he fell unconscious from exhaustion. Soon he was awakened by a pretty girl dressed in a pink yukata with a black ribbon tied around her neck.

"You know, it is bad to sleep out here without Gato's men lurking about."

"I could say the same about you…it is not like thugs to not harass a pretty lady such as yourself, miss…I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"Haku is my name….what are you doing here, Naruto-san?"

"I was training…I am a ninja, I want to be strong to protect the people here. No one should suffer like this….kids shouldn't be out begging for food on the streets." Naruto said in a serious tone. Haku reflected back to her hardships as an orphan until she met her master.

"Well, keep working hard on it, Naruto-san…I am sure that you are pretty strong as it is."

"Thanks, Haku-san; make sure that Zabuza heals up soon."

Haku stiffened and the Jinchuuriki said to her, "Your scent and I recognize your voice when we met you two days earlier. I am not going to kill you, I am going to extend the same courtesy to you since you obviously had the chance to kill me in my sleep, but for some reason you didn't."

Haku nodded silently and left, passing Sasuke along the way. "Who was that girl you were talking to?" Sasuke asked his teammate curiously as he watched her. "She was the one who graciously woke me up before you arrived here in exchange I was helping her collect herbs for her sick father. I never did catch her name though…."Naruto replied.

Sasuke dismissed the answer and said, "Whatever, come on, Kakashi needs us to watch Tazuna-san again." The Jinchuuriki nodded, knowing that this mission got a bit harder….could he really kill Haku after all since he caught a glimpse of sadness in her eyes that she didn't want to kill as well, he would have to find that out when he faced her along with Zabuza later in the week.

**March 25, A.K. - 7:00 PM- Tazuna's House-** Team Seven came in the house, joining Tazuna's small family for dinner. Each of them has mastered a jutsu from Kakashi over the week and they were a bit happy. Sakura learned Magen: Narakumi, Sasuke learned Katon: Housenka and Naruto learned Suiton: Mizurappa.

Inari glared at Naruto, who noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Why do you even bother to try hard at all?No matter how hard you train, you are no match for Gato and his men. No matter how hard you boast or how hard you work, in the end, when you are facing the strong, the weak are always killed! You guys come in here; laughing and smiling like idiots…no one can defeat Gato, no one…"

Naruto sighed, "Whatever, kid…I am going out since I lost my appetite and before I might do something that I will regret in the end. So good night, Tsunami-san, Tazuna-san…." But Inari had to get the last words in, "I would hate to be you! You know nothing about this country, yet you are being so nosy about it. What the hell do you know about me? I am different than you, you are always acting as if everything is going to be fine and being all cheerful. You know nothing about suffering!"

SLAP! Naruto backhanded the boy across the face, making Inari clatter to the floor. "Don't you _ever_….assume that people have not suffered at all, _boy_. The things that I have been through, you would have never survived; you would have wished you were dead, so stop sniveling and whining like a newborn baby! Maybe if you grow a pair like your grandfather did, you would see that the power that Gato holds in money…hmph, it is a shame…Kaiza-san would have been so disappointed in you. In fact, he would hate to be you!"

Sakura said as she touched his shoulder, "Naruto…you have said enough." He shrugged off her hand off her shoulder and gave Tsunami a healing balm from his pouch. "Here, that should bring down the swelling on his cheek and I am sorry for striking your son." With that, he went out the door to visit Nekoshi as he always did at this time of night.

He knocked on the door and a woman opened the door. She was very beautiful and had short, curly black hair up to her shoulder and hazel eyes, her skin was a light golden brown, "Why, hello again, Naruto-kun…Nekoshi-koi is out back, come on in…." she said with a caring smile.

"Thanks, Ayaka-san…" Just then Nekoshi came in, "Hey, Naruto, the bolts and the leather gauntlet are finished, but the other one isn't just yet."

"Thanks for telling me about that. I just needed to clear my head for a bit."

"Oh? How so?" the man asked.

"Inari…"

"Oh, he must have said something that hit close to home, I bet…Kaiza and Inari were very close and when he was killed, Inari was affected the most."

Naruto replied, "I know, but…he has to realized that there are others who have suffered other than him…some more than he has."

Nekoshi placed a hand on his shoulder, "True, but you can't blame him at all…he has never encountered ninja before. Well, enough of this doom and gloom business…come, I will show you your crossbow, I even made an extra one for you as well."

The ninja followed Nekoshi into the shop and the blacksmith gave him the crossbow. Naruto took a bolt and placed in the crossbow, then shot it at a makeshift target. "Amazing…there is almost no heavy recoil from it." Naruto said as he placed it back down and went to get the bolt.

Then he noticed a sword…it was a black sword that resembled a cross if you held it at the blade (3). "What is with the sword?" he asked.

"Hmm, oh, that….it was a memory of my younger days. I was a swordsman once until I met Ayaka and…"

"Tou-san!" Naruto turned to see a six-year-old girl with black, curly hair like her mother and her father's green eyes with tan skin, wearing a blue nightgown run up to Nekoshi for a hug. "Maya-chan…." Nekoshi said, "What have I told you about running in the shop."

"Not too." The girl said innocently, and then she turned to Naruto, "Hi, Naruto-niichan!"

"Hey, Maya-chan, you look very pretty…you got your mother's looks for sure."

Maya giggled, "You said that already, but thank you…"

Nekoshi mock glared at Naruto as he said, "Hey, no courting my daughter, Naruto….I don't care if you are a ninja and my favorite customer." Naruto laughed and then Ayaka walked inside, "There you are, you little rascal! It is time for you to go to bed, young lady."

Maya pouted as Nekoshi gave her to Ayaka and the blacksmith said, "Well, Naruto, are you feeling a bit better now?"

"Yeah, I am….your daughter reminded me of my promise that I made, to free this village from the clutches of Gato. I will be back in the morning to get the gauntlet, thanks for your time and the crossbows." Naruto said as he left.

After the Jinchuuriki left, Nekoshi looked at the black sword hanging on the wall and said, "Well, Kitami, it looks like you may have a new successor." Meanwhile, one of the thugs that was patrolling happened to see Naruto walk out of the shop and the moon's light shined to see his headband.

The thug grinned a bit and he ran back to the base to tell his boss about Nekoshi's new customer.

**March 26, A.K. - Tazuna's House- **Naruto woke up to find that his team along with Tazuna left for the bridge. The Jinchuuriki left the house to go straight to Nekoshi's shop and planned to join his team at the bridge.

He was greeting with the sight of Nekoshi's shop trashing and heard a commotion inside. Suddenly a thug was thrown out of the window and fell unconscious. Naruto ran inside to see Nekoshi armed with a sword, fighting off thugs left and right.

The boy acted by taking out a kunai from one of his hexagonal seals after he bit his thumb to wipe blood on it. He slashed a thug's back, making him arch in pain and then Naruto kicked him out the same window his companion was thrown out of.

The thugs were alerted to the new threat and attacked the Jinchuuriki. _"I can't risk using any jutsu or my X-Gloves right now to conserve my energy…if they are here, that means that Haku and Zabuza are attacking at the bridge as well."_ He thought to himself.

Naruto ducked under a slash from a thug's sword and gave him a punch to the face to stab at his leg. HE moved to the left and slashed at another's arm, but the brigand avoided it and went low for Naruto's legs. The Jinchuuriki jumped and kicked the thug in the face, making him fly into the furnace and he screamed in pain before he died burning.

Just then Nekoshi fell to the ground and Naruto screamed out, "Nekoshi!" He slashed and stabbed furiously through the three remaining thugs to get to the fallen man. "Are you alright?" Naruto asked.

"B-Behind you…"

Naruto quickly launched his kunai behind him, which lodged itself into his last adversary's throat and Nekoshi used his remaining strength to lift his sword upward and stab the man in the chest. "What happened?"

"T-The thugs broke into m-my shop, I was able to h-hide Maya and Ayaka in the cellar before I was able to g-get my s-sword to block them. Damn bastard got me with that sneaky stab in my leg….ugh; it seems that the years grew on me…"

Nekoshi coughed up blood and Naruto said, "Hold on, I will get you to a doctor...you will be all better and…"

"No, Naruto, it is too late…for me..."

"No, it's not…we could get you to a hospital, come on…stay with me, Nekoshi. You have Maya and Ayaka to think about."

Nekoshi smiled, "Hehehe, if you knew my real name, you wouldn't save me at all…"

"W-What?"

"My real name is Kazuma Murama, the Black Cross, a former Kiri ninja and former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist."

"So you knew Zabuza?"

Serenity said, "He also killed a village populated with over 400 people and he slaughtered them….women, men and children."

"Yeah, I knew him….he was a bloodthirsty kid, so that's who Gato hired, huh?"

"Yeah…" Naruto said, crying a bit and Nekoshi put his hand on the Jinchuuriki's shoulder, "Hey, don't worry about me….right now, you have got to protect your friends, so….I want you to take everything here, including my sword, Kitami. She will serve you well…"

Naruto said, "But I…"

"Naruto, don't question me…you are like the son that I never had. Now please grant my final request please…"

The Jinchuuriki bowed his head and said, "Fine…"

"Tell Maya…and Ayaka…that I love them very much, I will be…back to see you soon…"Nekoshi said quietly, and then he closed his eyes and smiled as he drew his last breath. Naruto let out a cry of anguish and sobbed for the loss of his friend, who acted like a father figure to him for a few moments.

Then all of his sadness turned to anger and that anger turned into rage. Naruto quickly got up and geared up for war, taking everything. He sealed the weapons into a scroll and took Kitami to seal in his hexagonal sign on his upper right thigh.

Next, He went to the cellar and opened it to find Ayaka coming out with a flying pan swinging wildly. Naruto caught her wrist, saying, "Ayaka, it's me…Naruto…"She opened her eyes and said, "Naruto-kun…where is Nekoshi-kun?"

The Jinchuuriki said, "I couldn't save him…I came too late, it is probably my fault. One of Gato's men must have seen me with my headband on and brought wrath upon your family. I am sorry, Ayaka-san, I am so sorry…"

Ayaka blinked back her tears at the loss of her husband and hugged Naruto, "It's not your fault, Naruto….you see, during his last battle, Nekoshi was poisoned and the poison attacked at his muscles. He couldn't do anything strenuous such as sword fighting or use chakra at all. By doing blacksmithing, he was killing himself little by little and the doctors told us that it was going to be his last year with us."

"But what about Maya-chan?" Naruto said, "Has she been told about his condition?"

"Yes, but she still believes that he will never die, but I do think that she knows that Nekoshi will be gone…that is why I let her spend so much time with him." Ayaka said sadly, "He was always optimistic when things would go from bad to worse."

Naruto nodded silently and turned away, "Ayaka-san, please don't let Maya-chan come into the shop until I am finished taking out the trash….then I am going to find the person who ordered the hit and kill him, Gato and possibly Zabuza."

Naruto spent the next minutes, taking out the bodies with the help of his clones and burned their corpses, which were covered in oil and used a Katon: Goukakyu on them. Next, he took Nekoshi's body, which Maya was crying on and sadly pried her away from it to bury him beside the house.

Then he cleaned the shop, making it devoid of blood on the ground and the smell as well. "Alright, I want you two to stay here…if I don't return, come to Tazuna's house because I will possibly be incapacitated."

Ayaka nodded, "How did he die?"

"He died as he lived, Ayaka-san. He died with love in his heart and a smile on his face." He said.

Maya cried out after Naruto left, "I hope you kill them all, Naruto-niichan!"

The Jinchuuriki ran out the door towards the bridge with the look of murder in his eyes. He reached the edge to see Sasuke on the ground, but Naruto suspected that he was in a death state like Haku did with Zabuza.

When the girl dropped her mirrors and went after Sakura and Tazuna, Naruto leapt out of the shadows and thought, _"They will all pay for this injustice!"_

_**Hakureisaiga-Naruto is pissed and out for blood! Will he kill Haku or spare her? Next chapter, the Wave Aftermath, Righteous Justice!**_

_**(1)-Picture Ezio Auditore's hidden blade gauntlets from Assassin's Creed Brotherhood**_

_**(2)-Picture Prince's gauntlet from the Prince of Persia (2008)**_

_**(3)-I have put a link on my page to describe the sword, it's from Bible Black Origins…skip to 7:40 to see the sword…the name Kitami comes from the name of the woman who was sacrificed with the sword…Reika Kitami **_


	6. Righteous Justice

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**Chapter 6-Righteous Justice**

Haku looked up in shock to see that the Jinchuuriki come down upon her hard and fast. With quick thinking, she made a ice senbon and blocked his assault, "What the…" Naruto grabbed her arm and snapped in two, making her scream in pain.

Then he kicked her in the abdomen and sent a crushing axe kick to the head, making her fall to the ground. He clambered over her back and lifted her head by the hair, raising a kunai to her neck.

"Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare…if you don't answer this question in the next few seconds. Did you order some mercenaries to kill a blacksmith by the name of Nekoshi Murama?"

"No, who is he?"

Naruto didn't answer for a moment and then answered, "He was a friend…almost like a father to me."

Quickly, he knocked her out using the ring of his kunai on her head. Naruto moved from Haku's seemingly dead body and moved towards Zabuza and Kakashi to see that the Demon of the Mist was held down by Kakashi's dog summons.

"Wait one moment, sensei...I need to ask Zabuza something." Naruto said as he approached the two of them. Kakashi looked over at Naruto with his jutsu slowly dispersing from his hand.

"I don't thin..." he voiced out.

Naruto glared at his sensei for a moment, making Kakashi shut up, then he turned to the ex-Mist ninja and asked, "Zabuza, did you kill a man named Nekoshi Murama..."

"So what if I did?" Zabuza said with a defiant look

Naruto said, "Wrong answer, Zabuza." He activated his glove, giving off a powerful flame than ever before, he didn't even register it. The boy held the corrosive flames at the jonin's chest, "Answer me!"

Zabuza grimaced in pain for a while and then he screamed out as the boy pressed it closer, "Aghh! N-No, I didn't!"

Naruto took it away from the man's chest and said, "I see...so Gato is the one responsible for his death. Thank you for telling me the truth."

The boy walked away only to hear laughter from the other side of the unfinished bridge. Everyone turned to see Gato standing in front of his men, which were a hundred strong.

"Looks like you couldn't finish the job at all, huh? Don't worry, I will finish it for you and I am afraid that I will have to kill you too." the short, pudgy man said with a laugh.

"Oi!" Naruto said, "Did you kill a man named Nekoshi?"

"Why, yes! His usefulness had ran out since that all my men were supplied with weapons." Gato said.

Suddenly red chakra surrounded his body, turning his vibrant, blue eyes into burning red pools of anger. His teeth and nails grew sharper. "Kakashi-sensei, release Zabuza-san...we are going to need his services to get all of us out of this alive. He should be fine with that burn on his chest since it is second degree only."

"Not so fast!" Gato shouted as he snapped his fingers to have his bodyguards bring out a gagged and struggling Tsunami and Inari.

Naruto immediately pulled out his crossbows from his shoulder and back and asked quietly, _"Serenity, most possible way to kill bodyguards without hurting innocent bystanders."__  
_  
"Left target: aim at the railing 36 degrees east, right target: aim at the sky 89 degrees north."  
  
Naruto did so and shot the bolts, the deadly bolts hit both Zori and Waraji in their eye, allowing the prisoners to run free. The bandits tried to reclaim their prize, but were cut down by Naruto's bolts.

The two got to Naruto, who took their gags off and said to them, "Go to Tazuna and Sakura, I am sure that Sasuke is awake by now..."

"Kill them!" Gato shouted.

The Jinchuuriki bit his pointer finger to spread one of the hexagons to unseal a black sword that resembles a cross if you held it at the blade.

"One thing, Zabuza...you kill Gato, I kill you...got it?"

"Feh, whatever, kid..."

Kakashi, Naruto and Zabuza ran at the crowd, wielding their weapons. Naruto reached the crowd first and jumped in the air as he stabbed a bandit in the throat.

He quickly pulled it out as he launched a blast of flames toward another in front of him. Naruto took his sword and sliced off a man's arm off to make him scream in pain until the Jinchuuriki backhanded him hard across the face.

Kakashi thought to himself, _"Where did he get those weapons and who is Nekoshi? And how the hell is he killing people so easily?"__  
_  
Zabuza hacked down three bandits down the middle of their waist as he thought, _"That kid is pissed off and that chakra...it's foul and appalling, is he a Jinchuuriki like Yagura?"__  
_  
Next, Naruto impaled a bandit through the stomach with his sword and then had to move away to avoid a slash from one of the bandits. The Jinchuuriki quickly rolled and bit his thumb as he reached down to his left thigh to unseal a kyoketsu shoge. (A/N: Picture the one in Ninja Assassin)

As the Jinchuuriki began to twirl around, the thugs that surrounded him stepped back to avoid it and in fear. Finally the boy sent it out to stab a random thug and shouted, "Get over here!" He pulled the chain, which launched the thug forward into a clothesline move.

Then he ripped out the blade downwards before he pulled it out and swung it around his head, making the thugs avoid him once again. A thug got brave and charged in with his battleaxe, but Naruto dodged to the left, making the thug kill one of his own and jumped up to slice his throat.

He reached his sword and pulled it out of the body, then quickly sealed the kyoketsu shoge in its seal while the thugs regrouped to kill the kid. "It is just one kid…how the hell does one kid kill ten of us in six minutes?" one of them asked.

Naruto answered, "It is because….I have a goal and that goal is to avenge my fallen friend, Nekoshi Murama. Your boss made the mistake of killing him and now…" He lifted Kitami as he pointed the sword at them, "All of you will die alongside with him."

"T-That sword? That is the Black Cross' sword!"

Zabuza thought, "So Kazuma…you entrusted that sword to that boy, huh? Heh, I guess that looking at him now…is a lot like you."

"P-Please spare us…we will leave this village and…"

"No…there is no escape, there is no guarantee that you will not try to harm an innocent except for one possible outcome…your deaths. You made a wife lose her husband and a daughter…her father. I am acting on the will of those two and my friend…will be avenged."

"W-Wait a moment!"

Naruto threw a kunai at the protesting thug, which lodged within his throat. The Jinchuuriki placed his sword through the loop of his belt securely and took out his crossbows. He jumped in the air and shot bolts at the group, cutting them down with their dying screams lingering in the air.

"Nekoshi placed seals on the crossbows to reload every time I shoot a bolt…thank you, my friend. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

Soon he had cut down over twenty thugs with the crossbows and holstered back as he knew that he ran out of ammo, then drew Kitami. He stabbed one in the chest, then kicked another with a roundhouse kick. He blocked a thug's overhand strike and punched him with his left metal cestus hand.

Naruto ducked under an attack and then hacked off a bandit's head. He didn't care about the carnage and gore he was causing, he didn't care about the screams of agony surrounding him and the only thing that he cared about at all was avenging the death of Nekoshi by killing Gato.

A cut on his arm thrusted him back to reality and Naruto decked him in the face, then took his legs from him. Between the Jonin and Naruto, the bandits' status was either dead, dismembered or running away from the bridge in sheer fear.

The Jinchuuriki looked at the whimpering Gato, who pleaded with the boy, "Please...let me go...I won't stay in this village anymore...I can give you money, power, women...anything..."

"Can you give back life? No, you can...because of your greed, a woman and daughter are crying for the loss of their family member."

Naruto stabbed him in the shoulder and pulled out a crossbow while putting his foot on the cast, "Because of your actions, I lost a friend..."

He shot Gato's hand, pinning him to the floor and making the man scream in pain, "Because of you, this village lost a great man...no, two of them and you want me to spare you?"

Naruto said coldly, "Don't make me laugh, you son of a bitch!" He kicked him across the face and said, "This is for Ayaka, Inari, Tsunami, Tazuna and Maya...resquiescat in pace, asshole..."

He unleashed his hidden blade and stabbed Gato in the throat, the business tyrant died with a gurgle and he suffered as the light left his eyes.

The Jinchuuriki sheathed his blade and walked away only to throw up on the ground as the adrenaline left his body as well as his demon's chakra.

Kakashi moved to his student and said. "Naruto, are you okay?" The blond replied, "Yeah, I am...just give me a minute, sensei."

The Sharingan wielder thought for a moment and decided to wait to ask about his sudden anger and those weapons he said, "Kid...that was one of the most sadistic things I ever saw from someone of your age."

"We're even...take your apprentice and leave." Naruto said without looking at him at all.

"Nah, I think I better stick around here with you...running from hunter ninjas are no fun anymore, plus I think you need someone who can teach you how to use that sword." the Ex-Jonin replied.

"Fine..." Naruto said, "Be my guest…" Then the boy passed out on the ground, but luckily Kakashi had caught him before he fell to the ground. _"I guess using the Kyuubi's chakra and the kills made him shut down a bit."_ He thought to himself, _"It looks like I will have to ask him when he wakes up."__  
_  
On the next day, Naruto woke up with Sakura sitting beside his head. "Oh, you are awake..." the Haruno said, "I'll get sensei..."

The silver haired man came in and asked, "How are you doing, Naruto?"

"Fine...I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Who is Nekoshi?"

"He was a blacksmith; he was the one who made the bolts for my crossbows and my gauntlet. When I went to go pick it up, I found him almost dead...he told me to take his weapons, all of them and tell his wife and child that he was sorry. I did so and promised to get justice on Gato."

"And the sword?"

Naruto said sadly, "He was Kazuma Murama, the former Black Cross…after a life of killing; he found Ayaka, his wife and settled down. He had a terminal illness that affected his muscles, even blacksmithing was killing him…he would have had a year left if he continued."

Kakashi was quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry, Naruto..."

"It's alright, Kakashi-sensei, my vengeance is complete now. I feel that Nekoshi can rest now, but I am going to miss him, he was like the father that I never had."

Naruto noticed Kakashi wince at the implication and then he asked, "So when are we leaving?"

"In a week...we have to repair the bridge since some of the damages were inflicted on it."

"Alright," answered Naruto. Then Tsunami said, "Naruto-san, there is someone by the name of Ayaka here to see you." The boy got up and left to the door to see Ayaka and Maya.

"Hey, you two..." the boy said as he came downstairs with a smile.

"Naruto-niichan!" Maya cried out as she hugged Naruto, "Did you beat all the bad men?" Naruto replied as he knelt down to the girl, "Yeah, we beat all of the bad men...Maya-chan."

Maya hugged the blonde-haired ninja, who held her close and a single tear fell down from his face. Sakura thought, _"Naruto..."_

Soon after the week was done, the whole population of Wave came to see the ninja off, including Haku and Zabuza. "Well...I guess that this is goodbye." Tazuna said to them.

"Don't worry, we will come and visit you guys someday..." Sakura said with a cheerful smile. Inari started to cry, but then Naruto said to him, "Look sharp..."

The Jinchuuriki smiled and said, "Smile when you cry, that way you are crying happy tears. Also do me a favor..." He knelt down to Inari's level and said, "Take care of yourself and Maya-chan, got it?" Inari nodded and then Naruto hugged Ayaka and Maya, " I will see you soon..."

The Jinchuuriki left, but Tsunami quickly hugged him and whispered, "Thank you for saving me and my son back there and take care of yourself." Naruto nodded and ran off to reach the ninja.

**Konoha-** Team Seven, along with Zabuza and Haku went inside of the Hokage Tower. Sarutobi said, "Hello, Team Seven...may I ask why is Zabuza here unrestrained?"

The swordsman said, "I am here on my own free will, I was on the opposite side on Kakashi's team. I saw that Naruto here has acquired a sword from a former member of the Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist. Therefore I am obligated to train him for a month and then leave."

The Hokage said, "I see...alright, I will allow this and give you temporary status as a ninja. If you try anything suspicious, your life will be forfeit, understood?"

Zabuza nodded and the Hokage said, "Alright, team Seven, you are dismissed and you have two weeks off for successfully. Kakashi, I will expect the report by tomorrow."

"Actually, Hokage-sama, I can give my report now..."

The old man nodded and handed two headbands that had the kanji for 'temporary' to Zabuza and Haku. Next, he said, "I have assigned your apartments in the same complex as Naruto. I trust that you will be fine with these accommodations."

Both of the water ninja nodded and the Hokage said, "Alright, dismissed..." The genin including Haku and Zabuza left, leaving Kakashi and Sarutobi alone.

"Talk to me..."

"Naruto is very advanced for his age; he apparently can channel the Kyuubi's chakra and convert it into a corrosive flame. He also knows basic sealing to hide his weapons and on top of that, he has killed already...he slaughtered over fifty bandits in anger and brutally tortured Gato for killing a blacksmith named Nekoshi Murama." Kakashi said.

"I am not surprised by that... If it were Sasuke or Sakura, then I would be, but he does have the Kyuubi's chakra in his body to use. Did he react to it?"

"He threw up like every ninja does before their first kill. He was a bit shaken up about it until the daughter and widow of Nekoshi came to him."

"Alright, anything else?"

"Yes, Sasuke has also unlocked his Sharingan during his battle with Haku-san, but that is basically all that happened. After their break, I plan on training them...all of them to the best of their ability." The Jonin said to the old man.

"Very well, you are dismissed, Kakashi..."

**Naruto**_**-**__"I have two weeks to spare before training with Zabuza."_ he thought. "You can change your blood type now, master Naruto." Serenity replied.

_"Alright, let's do it..."___

"Program execute...operation Blood O, commencing..."  
  
Naruto felt himself lull back into unconsciousness and he was suspended in his mind. There, he was trapped for 48 hours to train his mind while his body was being changed on the inside.

After the two days were completed, Naruto woke up, stiff and he got up slowly, stretching his unused body. Then he strode over to one of the training grounds to find a young girl training.

_"That is Hinata Hyuga, the heiress of the Hyuga clan. What is she doing here this late?"_ he thought, _"It is ten o'clock at night."__  
_  
He walked over to see Hinata striking at a log with a metal sheet covered over it. "You know, it is a bit dangerous for a young lady such as yourself to be out here this late."

She jumped and hid behind the log a bit, "N-Naruto-kun..."

"Hello, Hinata-chan, I see that you're getting some extra training in, huh?"

"H-Hai...but what are you d-doing here, N-Naruto-kun?"

"Same as you, training. I was asleep for a couple of days, so I came for training as well. Then I saw you here and figured that we could train together."

_"Training...with Naruto-kun...alone..."_ Hinata thought.

"Naruto-sama, this girl's pheromone levels are rising off of the charts, any more and I believe that she might faint."

Naruto chuckled as he replied, _"Alright, Serenity, thank you."_ The nanite-enhanced boy said, "Well, what is your answer?"

"H-Hai..."

Naruto said, "Okay, I want you to attack me, don't worry about hurting me. I have a high pain tolerance."

Hinata nodded and got in her Gentle Fist stance, then the Jinchuuriki moved in his taijutsu stance, "Alright, come at me..."

The Hyuga attacked the Uzumaki, but he was dodging the attacks very easily. _"Hmmm, her style seems too stiff much like her clan. She is more of a flexible person...Serenity, check for fighting styles that require flexibility."__  
_  
"Searching...there are exactly six styles that fits with her flexibility, there is Baquazhang, Chin Na, Goju-ryu Karate, Hapkido, Koshijutsu and Aiki-jujutsu."  
  
_"Can you upload the basics, so I can teach her a bit?"_

"Uploading basics...upload complete."

Naruto looked at Hinata and said, "Hinata, are you having problems with adapting to your clan taijutsu style?" The girl looked at him and averted her eyes from his blue ones.

"You are, aren't you? Didn't you talk to your father or something; surely he would try to help you, right?" Again, she said nothing and Naruto said, "Hinata...Hinata, look at me..."

He took her chin and lifted her head, "Why didn't you ask for help?" "M-My family doesn't t-tolerate weakness or anything at all. I-I-I couldn't...ask anyone for..."

"That is it..." the Jinchuuriki interrupted, "I am going to help you...I know some styles that you can work within your family style as well as utilizing your flexibility. Now come and watch me..."

"B-But..."

"No buts, got it? Now I want you to stand beside me and copy my movements...this style is very old, it's called Baquazhang." Hinata got up and copied his movements, then spent the next two hours using that style against Naruto.

Soon both were tired and Naruto said, "Come on, I better get you home before someone thinks you have been kidnapped or something?" The heiress nodded and the two Genin walked together to her home.

They reached their destination and Hinata bowed to her crush, "Thanks for helping me, N-Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled at her, "Anytime...if you want, I can help you train again at this time."

Hinata smiled, "I would like that a lot..."

"Alright, I will see you tomorrow night."

Naruto leapt into the night as Hinata snuck into her room and went off to bed.

_**Hakureisaiga- So Naruto is receiving training from Zabuza for two weeks to get a grasp on the basics along with helping Hinata in a new style better suited to her own. What is next in store for him now?**_


	7. Making Some Changes

**Chapter 7-Making Some Changes**

"Alright, kid…I am going to train you in the art of swordsmanship as a favor to Kazuma-san. First lesson, the sword is not considered a tool or a weapon, but an extension of yourself….where it goes, you follow. Now are you left-handed or right-handed?" Zabuza asked.

Naruto answered, "I am ambidextrous, but predominantly my right…"

Zabuza nodded and turned to his surrogate daughter, "Haku, bring the arm and leg weights!"

"Hai, Zabuza-sama!"

"And I told you it is not Zabuza-sama anymore; it is Zabuza-tou-san now since I consider you my daughter." The fight against Gato made the man realize that Haku was very precious to him despite what he boasts to Kakashi back on the bridge in Wave.

The ice user brought the weights and put them onto Naruto's legs and arms and then the temporary Jonin instructed, "Now put some chakra into the weights until they feel heavy." Naruto did so and five minutes later, his arms and legs felt heavier than usual.

He looked at them to see the number fifteen on them and he deduced that was how much pounds he was wearing. "Alright, your limbs have fifteen pounds exactly. Wearing these will help you increase your speed of your swings, punches and kicks. I am going to let your regulate them to see how serious you are about this….if you slack for the slightest moment, I will drop you from your training, understand?"

"Hai, Zabuza-sensei!"

"Good, now give me 100 up and down strikes, 100 side swipes and 100 diagonal strikes…both ways. If you mess up, we will start again…Go!"

Naruto began his weighted training with his right hand and left hand separately and then switched to two handed strikes. At the end of his strike training, his arms were searing in pain, it even hurt to move any of his fingers. "Now we will work on your agility….you have good reflexes on par for a chunin-level ninja, but you will encounter people your age with the strength of a Jonin. So Haku here will be throwing her senbon at you for the next 30 minutes…."

"Wait a min…"

"Go!"

Naruto began to dodge her attack, but he was pierced by several senbon in the process. The number happened to reach to 40 and the Jinchuuriki soon found out that the number of senbon that pierced his body was equal to the number of how many laps he had to do around the training ground.

Needless to say, today from 8 AM to 12 PM, Naruto's body ached. Two hours later, his innate healing ability that he inherited from the Kyuubi dulled the pain, making the Genin able to do his ninjutsu training and work on mastering his arsenal of C-Rank jutsu until he reached his limit in three hours.

Next, he ate and slept after he drew up ideas and plans for his new projects until 10:00 came around, he would venture to the same training ground to help train Hinata in some styles such as Chin Na, a style that focuses on the joints and locking them in uncomfortable places. Naruto was able to help Hinata incorporate some of the style as well as Baquazhang, making her own style unique to her.

It was a counterattack/defensive style, anytime Naruto attacked, she would counter or use his own attack against him. Hinata once commented that Naruto's speed was much like her cousin, Neji and she slowly adjusted to it.

This was his routine over the two weeks, after the last day of his vacation; he went out in the forest and landed on a branch to see a small mansion guarded by ANBU and Medical Ninja. "**Henge!**" Naruto said as he transformed into a mouse and quickly scurried across the path past the ANBU and Medical Corps.

Soon he reached the mansion and crawled through the cracks to find himself in Yakumo's room. He released his Henge and crept over to her bed to cover her mouth, making her eyes snap open and look at him in fear.

Naruto put a finger to his lips and whispered, "Don't scream, I am a friend…now I am going to help you, Yakumo Kurama…if you promise to hear me out, will you be silent." Yakumo nodded and Naruto lifted his hand away as she whispered, "Who are you?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, I heard that your power was wrongfully sealed by the order of the Third Hokage, plus I know that you are physically incapable of being an active ninja, but I will help you in this too."

Yakumo's face changed from anger to sorrow to hope, "How did you find me?"

"I have a friend in high places, now I must tell you the true reason why your powers were sealed. You see, your powers were so great that it created a second personality in your brain. Now that personality is basically the opposite of you and could take over you at any given moment….the first time was when it killed your parents."

Yakumo was shocked, "I k-killed my own parents…."

"No, the monster hidden within you took over your body and did it, that is why your teacher, Kurenai Yuhi sealed your powers to make sure that others and yourself would not get hurt at all. They dubbed it as the Ido monster….but I will need your help since you are the only one who can defeat it."

"A-Alright…"

"**Ninja Style: Treasured Mind…."** Naruto said as he held his hand to Yakumo's head and instantly he appeared beside Yakumo and said, _"Ready?"_ The genjutsu user nodded and the two ventured into Yakumo's mind to find the Ido eating parts of her mind.

"_Wow, you are an ugly fellow, aren't you?"_ Naruto commented and the Ido said, **"So you have come, eh, master? "**

"_You are going back to where you belong…out of here."_ Yakumo said in a stern glare. The Ido narrowed its eyes at Naruto as it said, **"It seems that you let that boy corrupt you with his lies and empty promises. Don't worry, master, I will subdue him and make you see the truth."**

The Ido attacked Naruto, who dodged its attack and grabbed its long ears to pull downwards to meet his knee. _"Yakumo, now would be a really good time to banish this dark side of you before I get killed."_ Naruto said as he dodged most of the Ido's attacks.

"_What if it's right?"_

"_It's not…I can relate to you because the Third Hokage ordered seals to be placed on me when I was a child without my knowledge. Do you know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune?"_

Yakumo replied, _"How can I not? Most of my clan was destroyed by it."_

Naruto grunted, _"The thing is that the Kyuubi wasn't killed, it was sealed within me….we both have a cursed power, but right now, you have the power to control it fully without any repercussions and as for me, helping your body to become strong, the answer lies within my blood…now try to think of a way to destroy it."_

Yakumo replied, _"The Kyuubi…was sealed within you…that means you have had a harder life that I have, but why are you so adamant on helping me?"_ Naruto reached a standstill against the terrible Ido by grabbing its arms inches from his head, _"Because….you remind me of myself….feeling useless, alone, unappreciated, that is why I am going to help you."_

Yakumo thought for a moment and a scalpel appeared in her hand, then the genjutsu user leaped into the air to stab the Ido in its head. **"B-But…I did it…to serve you…"**The Ido exploded into a purple haze while giving one last screech before dissipating.

"_Cutting that a bit close, aren't you?"_ Naruto said, panting while Yakumo gave him a sheepish smile. The two appeared back to their real world and Yakumo whispered, "So how are you going to do this?" Naruto pulled out a syringe filled with blood, but it was glistening a bit.

"This is filled with my blood, which accidently came in contact with nanites. The vast amounts should destroy any traces of the Ido and help regulate your genjutsu power; you may even be able to do a few ninjutsu. If you hear a voice in your head, don't worry, it is all natural and in a few days, you will be and feel different."

Yakumo said, "Will I ever see you again?"

Naruto thought about it for a minute and said, "I don't know…when you get better, maybe I will get the privilege of seeing you again, so until…I will see you later, Yakumo Kurama, student of Kurenai Yuhi." He injected his blood within her body and then he left, transforming into a squirrel this time around, leaving Yakumo's fate up to his injected nanites.

Soon he was on duty once again with his team and then Zabuza and Haku left to go to Kirigakure, hearing word that Yagura was dead and a new leader was established. The Ex-Jonin left his temporary student a scroll holding Suiton: Suirou, Daibakufu and Suiryuudan no Jutsu.

Sasuke felt a bit jealous of Naruto getting training from him, but he didn't voice it since he noticed that he was the one that Kakashi was mostly focusing on at the time due to his Sharingan. Team Seven did only D-Rank missions, now that there was the possibility of the client's lying about the mission to be cheap.

Suddenly on one day, there was a hawk that appeared in the sky, causing Kakashi to leave early. Sasuke went to train, expecting Sakura to ask him on a date, but he noticed that she was talking to Naruto. He didn't know why, but it bothered him for the longest while and he couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright, who are you?" Sasuke asked.

"Huh?" the Haruno said in confusion.

"Who are you? You haven't talked or pester me about a date, you haven't squealed my name in a month, so who are you?"

Naruto smirked, "Why, she is Sakura Haruno, a kunoichi…she was asking me for tips on her training regiment, perhaps you have some to teach her, Sasuke…"

"Damn right I do, I bet that I can help her better than you, Uzumaki."

"Then by all means, prove me wrong, Rookie of the Year…."

Sasuke growled, "Tomorrow, 3 PM after team meetings, training area 3…I will show you some of my jutsu." The Uchiha stalked off, missing the sly smirk on Naruto's face and the shocked one on Sakura's own.

"Did…he basically just asked me to train with him?"

"Yes, it is a bit of a surprise to me too. I never thought he would ask you so soon thought." Naruto said with a smirk. Sakura asked, "Naruto, you are smirking. Although I have ignored you for years, I do know that your smirking means you did something."

"I did, though Sasuke did all of the work for me….he loves attention and strong women much like his mother. Since he has awakened his Sharingan and I won't train with him, but I have been training with you means something. To get to me, he realized that he must get through you first and since me and Kakashi have gotten you up to par to a high genin level, a spar with Sasuke should push you to your limits."

Sakura gasped, "Y-You planned this?"

"Yep, surprise! You are now closer to Sasuke than you have accomplished in your years at the Academy. Now remember, never mention his brother or family around him, etc. It is a touchy subject and as a gift, bring some tomatoes, not sweets or fruit. He hates anything associated with his brother to that point especially pocky….I only do it to piss him off, which I find hilarious."

Sakura nodded and she went off in the distance. Naruto went to a Shinobi shop called the Heaven's Earth and a tall man with short, slicked-back black hair and grey eyes with tan skin turned from his customer, "Welcome, I will be with you there shortly." Naruto nodded solemnly and grabbed several shuriken packs, two fish-net shirts, a coat with tattered edges and a cowl up to his neck, slightly covering his chin.

Then the man appeared and said, "Hello, my name is Tenchi Mugawa, is that all?"

"Yes and I have a question, do you make weapons as well?"

"Yes, we do…we are the second best at making them besides Lord Iou."

Naruto nodded and unsealed Kitami, making Tenchi raise an eyebrow and someone gasped out, "That is Kitami, Kazuma Murama's sword, the Legendary Black Cross. How did you manage to possess such a weapon like that?"

Naruto turned to see a young kunoichi wearing a pink Chinese shirt and green pants. In her holsters were two hand-held scrolls and her hair was tied up in two small buns, making her look like a mouse and had brown eyes.

"Yes, it is, miss and how I got her is the owner gave it to me."

"Gave it to you?"

"If you don't like the answer, then fine because that is all that I am saying about it."

"B-But you must have encountered him or something."

"Tenten, that is enough! The boy obviously went through some things that he doesn't want to disclose to get that sword." Tenchi said to her sternly, then he turned to Naruto, "Please excuse my niece, she has a hobby of learning about weapons wielded by legendary ninja other than Tsunade."

Naruto replied, "Can you repair her please and sharpen her as well?"

Tenchi nodded and took her in the back, "Your name is…"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Alright, Naruto-san, see me in five days…" Tenchi said, then the Jinchuuriki walked out of the store after paying for his equipment and Tenten muttered, "Uzumaki Naruto, huh? Most people would brag about that they killed one of the Legendary Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist, but why doesn't he?"

Tenchi looked at her and said, "Tenten, don't pry into someone's past or you will regret it. If he wanted to tell you about it, then he would. Something must have happened to him when he encountered that man, so I suggest that you don't ask him at all or else."

"Yes, uncle…" Tenten said, but her thoughts were exactly the opposite, she decided to follow this….Naruto Uzumaki when he would come back to the shop again. Meanwhile Naruto's weights were up to 40 and he noticed that he was getting better with his agility; Serenity was able to access low Chunin information and found out that the Chunin Exams were coming up in three weeks' time.

For some reason, it seems very important that Naruto suspected that Orochimaru has something involved with it and to lie about the nanites would be hard to do it without Sarutobi being suspicious about the information, plus there were ears on every wall.

Luckily, he found a scroll with seals, the easiest one happened to be a seal that blocks out noise or anything else and it was made by Minato Namikaze. Due to Serenity's tinkering, she was able to let Naruto have X-Ray vision for a brief moment and found it hidden in a compartment connected to a library desk.

"_Looks like I will have to tell them everything, huh, Serenity?"_ Naruto said.

"It is up to you, Naruto-sama…but ultimately this information could save someone's life in the near future." Serenity said.

The Jinchuuriki nodded and went over to the Hokage Tower, meeting no resistance against the secretary. Just then a man walked out with Yakumo, who was wearing a Konoha headband from the office and walking.

The Genjutsu user looked up and noticed Naruto's eyes, but Naruto smiled at her and placed a finger to his lips, making her eyes widen in recognition just as the Uzumaki entered the room. "Hello, Hokage-sama."

"Hello, Naruto, what can I do for you?"

"No, Hokage-sama, it is what I can do for you…" Naruto said in a serious tone as he placed the seal on the wall.

"How did you find this seal, Naruto?" Sarutobi asked.

"Library in a hidden compartment….now I have recently stumbled on some classified information…involving the upcoming Chunin Exams and your former student, Orochimaru."

"How?"

"Remember six years ago when your ANBU found me in Orochimaru's lab, I accidently was messing with a jar with grey matter filled inside of it. The jar broke and the grey matter travelled within my bloodstream, they are called nanites. They enhance my strength, speed, agility, eyesight…everything. I believed that he made these before he move on to something else since none of his subjects survived the injection."

Sarutobi said, "So Orochimaru made those nanites…and there are the reason for your condition and your knowledge of the seals as well as the Kyuubi?"

"Yes, I was able to take a small portion of the Kyuubi's chakra to input into my gloves, C.K. X-Gloves. Unfortunately, I can only do five consecutive blasts before it has to recharge for 12 minutes."

"You made those gloves yourself?"

"I thought Kakashi told you about them and some of my abilities as well since you told him to keep a close eye on me as well, Hokage-sama. Although I have lost all of my trust in you, I can't let innocent people die because of my selfishness, so I trust that you will heed my warning seriously." Naruto said with a raised eyebrow.

Sarutobi replied, "Don't worry, Naruto, I will heed it…Orochimaru, now, is a dangerous criminal whose ambitions must be stopped. Your orders are to keep this crucial information to yourself, I will alert all Chunin and Jonin personnel to be ready for anything during the Chunin Exams….thank you for notifying about it."

"You are welcome, Hokage-sama."

The boy tuned to take off the seal and moved to the door until Sarutobi's voice stopped him, "Naruto…I know that I have betrayed your trust and it is very much likely possible that I will never regain it from you, but I am very sorry for my poor decisions. I should have told you about when you finished your graduation from the Academy and trust you about how to deal with it."

Naruto nodded silently and left the room while Sarutobi sighed and leaning back into his chair, _"Minato…Kushina, I messed up badly…what do I do now?"_ A mysterious wind blew some of the paperwork across his desk, but miraculously, the ones that were requested by shinobi stayed put.

Sarutobi looked at it and then he turned to the windows….they were closed, making the old Hokage let loose a smile, "Thank you….it looks like the civilian council will get a rude awakening. Kimiko!" The secretary rushed in the office, "Hai, Hokage-sama?"

"Send for Taka and his squad; tell her that she is to notify the council for an emergency meeting….the shinobi side only."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

Sarutobi nodded and then began to look his paperwork with renewed vigor, _"I will set things right, Naruto and after this meeting, I will need to start training again. I have been acting too much like a politician than a shinobi."_

At that moment, the pictures that held the previous Kages almost seemed like they were all smiling down at Sarutobi as he did his paperwork and sorted the civilian side to give it to them. The God of Shinobi has returned to his post.

**Council Room-** "Why have you called this meeting, Sarutobi?" asked Danzo curiously. "I have just received some information that one of our S-Rank missing ninja will be returning to visit our lovely village and attempt to bring about its destruction." Sarutobi replied.

"Who would that be, Hokage-sama? Is it Itachi Uchiha?" Tsume Inuzuka asked in mild fear. Itachi was one of the best and there was no doubt in her mind that he could very well destroy this village with the information that he held in his head.

"No, it happens to be my old student, Orochimaru…."

Shikaku Nara asked seriously, "When will the invasion happen and who was the informant?"

"He will be coming in this upcoming Chunin Exams and as for the informant, the person asked if they would remain anonymous." The Professor answered. Then he thought, _"Like hell I am going to let you know about Naruto and his newfound powers, Danzo. I know that you have in wanting of his power as a Jinchuuriki."_

He continued, "All personnel except for Genin will be notified of this matter secretly. The genin must not know anything to keep up appearances, some of your children may be entering the exams, but I rather keep them in the dark than making them paranoid."

Choza replied, "But Orochimaru could, very well, infiltrate this village as a genin…"

"I know, but Orochimaru could have spies posing as genin or even have genin posing as one of our own, therefore I can't have the genin be notified of this information. Also it is easier to pose as a genin than a Chunin or Jonin since most of them come through me for missions and I have a photographic memory. We must lure him into a false sense of security; we must use it to our advantage. I know that it might sacrifice some of the lives of our young generation, but I have no choice and this matter cannot be avoided. This is not a democracy, Choza." The Hokage said firmly with his steely grey eyes.

Everyone shuddered as they all knew that the Professor was back. "Danzo, I will give you authorization to activate ANBU ROOT, although you have already started without my consent. After we suppress this attack, you will….I repeat, you will disable it completely and have them integrated in our shinobi program or you will be replaced from your position, is that clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama…"

"One more thing, Danzo, no more recruits. I understand that you care for Konoha as much as I do, but killing off their emotions by making them kill their brother or sister is not the way. Yes, emotions do bring hate, but they can also bring love and understanding….we may be weapons, but we are sentient, understand?"

"Understood, Hokage-sama…" Danzo said calmly.

"Excellent, now on to another matter…" Suddenly the Hokage was interrupted by the civilian council barging in with Mita Haruno in front and Sarutobi said, "Ah, right on time…"

"What is the meaning of this, Sarutobi? Why weren't we, the civilian council, notified of this emergency meeting?" Mita cried out in anger while the shinobi council frowned at the blatant disrespect. "To answer your question, Mita, I have recently decided that the civilian side will not be involved in shinobi matters at all and also…you all will appoint someone among your group to do your own paperwork. Kimiko, bring it in please."

The secretary came in with a cart filled with papers up to the brim and the Haruno declared, "You can't do this, the civilian council has always been involved with the shinobi for four generations."

"And I am changing that rule now….discussing about disputes in businesses or marital affairs is not the concern of the Hokage unless one of the spouses is an active or retired shinobi. Now, as of this moment, you are denied access to anything that involves a shinobi, so I suggest that you all see your way out of this room along with your paperwork or I will have the ANBU throw you out in the streets."

"The people will not stand for this!" one of the members said in protest.

"Then I suggest that you tell the people that this is a dictatorship and if they don't like it, they can suck my left testicle." Sarutobi said with a cold smirk. _"Damn, Naruto has been rubbing off on me…" _he thought. Most of the shinobi laughed openly, chuckled or smirked at Sarutobi's choice of words while the civilian council walked out sullenly.

Then the Hokage turned back at them, "Now every patrol will be in groups of five. No one, I mean, no goes off alone. Got it?" The shinobi nodded and Sarutobi said, "Good, any questions?"

Inoichi Yamanaka said, "You seem to have a lot of trust in this informant of yours, Sarutobi-sama. How do you know that this person is not lying?"

"Trust me as I say this, Inoichi…my informant has no reason to lie to me at all, considering that person has people in this village that they care about deeply and can't bear to have innocent people die because of their poor decision to not reveal the information. If they are lying, then there is no reason not to be alert since it is Orochimaru, he is no laughing matter….since I was the one who taught him. Anything else you would like to ask?"

Nobody said anything and Sarutobi said, "Very well then, all of you are dismissed!"


	8. New Beginnings, the Chunin Exams!

_**Hakureisaiga-First off, I am alive, my fellow readers, just going through a lot of things such as work, school and all that good stuff, although it is no excuse for ignoring your leisure time of reading, so without further delay, here is Chapter 8…I plan on updating Demon Eyes Naruto, Legend of the Heartless Angel, Destiny of Sparda's Descendant and Frozen Fox in that order**_

**Chapter 8- New Beginning, the Chunin Exams!**

After doing a D-Rank mission, Kakashi looked up to see a hawk circling in the air and said to his team, "Alright, team, you're dismissed for today. I have to report about today's mission." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and then Naruto turned to Sakura, "So how is training with Sasuke?"

"A bit brutal, he is way faster than I am, but I realized that I have more power than him…" she replied and Sasuke absentmindedly rubbed his jaw. Naruto smirked at the not so hidden gesture and said, "I see, well, I better go now, I got stuff to do."

"Wait a minute…" Sasuke said, "How come you never try to train with us or hang out?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Sasuke, you never hang out or anything, plus I don't train with you because I don't like to be used as a measuring tool at all. Also I don't like to intrude on anything that you two do at all and you have been bitching for my techniques for the past week."

Sasuke said with a scowl, "I know…but I need those jutsu to…"

"Kill Itachi-san, I know, I know….hell, everyone knows about it, but having a whole bunch of jutsu will defeat him. You practically go ballistic on anyone who has associated or knows information on Itachi, plus I beat you in a spar after just mentioning his name."

"What do you know, you never lost anybody at all…my family is all but gone." The Uchiha shouted in anger.

"What about your mother? She is still there, if you died fighting against him, I don't think that she would be able to bear it on her shoulders or even forgive herself for letting on the path of the avenger. You are lucky that you even have a family; you don't know what it is like to not know about your parents. What they look like, how they were like or even if they had loved you at all. If I had one choice to switch places with someone, it would have been you…"

Sasuke was surprised as Naruto walked away at that note and Sakura cried out, "Naruto!" She turned to Sasuke, "I hope you are happy, Sasuke…Naruto has done nothing, but tried to help you to become stronger by giving you hints. He is right, you do have a superiority complex, I wouldn't have gone so low to jab at the lack of family he has at all."

She ran after Naruto and Sasuke thought to himself, "_Why do I feel…sad all of a sudden?"_ He looked at the disappearing Sakura for a moment and with a hidden resolve, he moved to go after her. Meanwhile, the Jinchuuriki moved towards his apartment, but then he let loose a small smile, "Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, you three should know that a rock doesn't have eyeholes or perfectly shaped corners."

The three Academy students came out from underneath their 'disguise' and Konohamaru said, "As expected of my rival…"

"I see that you three are wearing my goggles. Are you causing Iruka-sensei hell?" he asked. The three nodded and Moegi said timidly, "Naruto-kun, can you play ninja with us?"

"Sure…Moegi-chan." Naruto said with a smile, and then a feminine voice cried out, "Naruto!" The Jinchuuriki and the kids turned to see Sakura, "Sakura…"

"Are you okay, Naruto?"

"Yeah, I am fine now…" The Haruno noticed the three kids and knelt down to their level with a smile, "And who are you three?"

"Please don't ask…" Naruto said, but it was too late.

"I'm Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in the Academy."

"I'm Udon, I like algebra!"

"And I'm Konohamaru, the strongest Academy student and together, we are…"

The three said in unison while making a pose, "The Konohamaru Corps!" Naruto and Sakura sweat dropped at it, but then Konohamaru asked, "So, lady, do you want to play ninja with us?" Sakura looked at Naruto, then back at them, "Sure, I have nothing better to do."

The two Genin played with the three students until Konohamaru accidently bumped into a person. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with cat-like tips on the hood; he had purple face paint markings and a bandaged bundle on his back.

His companion, the girl beside him was wearing a grey skirt and had fishnet stockings on her left thigh and right ankle; she also had a large fan folded up on her back. The boy grabbed Konohamaru by the scruff of his neck and Naruto said in a stern, polite way, "Excuse me, sir, but I am going to have to ask you to put him down immediately."

"No way!" The boy answered, "He bumped into me and that is rude. He had to learn how to respect his elders the hard way and I abhor little shrimps." Immediately Naruto disappeared and the boy felt a kunai at his neck, "You shouldn't underestimate young ones, they could kill you in the future. Now…put him down and I will not ask a third time."

The blond woman thought to herself, _"I didn't even see him move." _She slowly reached for her fan behind her and Sakura's voice said from behind as well, "I wouldn't move if I were you, miss." Naruto commented, "Well, that was fast, Sakura…you have been using weights?"

"The same ones as you, Naruto…now where were we? Ah, yes, this should be the part where you put our little friend down on the ground gently."

The blond woman said, "Kankuro, put the brat down now!" Kankuro set Konohamaru down and the two Konoha genin moved by the kids just as Kankuro reached behind him to get the bundle off of his back until a pebble struck his hand.

"Really not a good idea….you mind telling us what you are doing here in our village?" a person asked and Sakura said, "Sasuke!" Kankuro muttered out loud, "Nothing in this village but shrimps and squirrels, huh?" Naruto replied, "I suggest you shouldn't do anything stupid, Kankuro-san. Your teammate in that tree reeks of bloodlust meaning he is not particularly happy with your hostility."

Kankuro and his blond companion's eyes widened with fear as they looked to see a red-haired genin with green eyes and black bags around his eyelids, standing upside down with his arms crossed and a gourd on his back.

"Kankuro…stop this, you are an embarrassment to our village."

"B-But, Gaara…"

"Shut up or I will kill you…" Gaara said in monotone.

Kankuro flinched and replied, "You are right, I was out of line." The blonde apologized, "We are sorry, Gaara…really, really sorry." Sasuke thought, "_So he is the leader…he must be very powerful to have those two quaking in fear and has stealth rivaling Kakashi-sensei's own…but how did Naruto sense him at all?"_

Gaara did a Suna Shunshin and appeared between his group, "Kankuro, Temari, c'mon, we are leaving….now." Sakura said, "Wait!"

"No, Sakura, let them go…they are here for the Chunin Exams." Naruto said to her.

"Chunin Exams?" she asked.

"One of the two possible ways to get promoted from Genin to Chunin, you must show strategy, leadership and dedication by participating in a series of tests along with fighting different opponents from the ninja villages in the continent." Naruto stated.

Temari smirked as she thought, "Wow, cute and smart…"

Sasuke asked as he jumped down, "How do you know about this, Naruto?"

"Library…and the reason you two never knew about it is because Kakashi-sensei never bothered to tell us. I'm guessing that he might put us in the exams to test us as well as get out of his hair for a while." Gaara glanced at the two boys as he thought, "It takes skill to hit Kankuro without him detecting it and to get behind both of my siblings is even harder as well."

Gaara spoke up suddenly, "You three…what are your names? I am Sabaku no Gaara…"

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Haruno Sakura."

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"I hope to see you three in the exams…" Gaara stated in monotone before he left along with his teammates. "He creeps me out…" voiced Sakura. "I know, but there is something odd about him, something familiar." Naruto said, and then he spoke to Serenity, _"Did you check their chakra, Serenity?"_

"Yes, Master Naruto…two of them are normal, but the one subject known as Gaara has higher chakra than normal, it is also similar to the Kyuubi's chakra, meaning that he is a Jinchuuriki as well. Unfortunately I couldn't confirm which one he holds."

"_That is fine; at least we know that he is a Jinchuuriki…"_

Then Sasuke looked at his teammates and said, "Naruto…Sakura, I am…sorry for the way that I acted…I was out of line. Not knowing your parents is much the same as losing your family." Naruto nodded as he replied, "I accept your apology, Sasuke…and I am also sorry for antagonizing you as well. So for compensation, I guess one spar against you can't hurt."

Sasuke smiled a bit, "I would like that very much…Naruto."

**Hokage's Office-** "Now does everyone know what to do?" Sarutobi asked. The Jonin and Chunin nodded in agreement while Sarutobi continued, "Excellent…now are there any nominations for this year's exams?" Kakashi, Kurenai, Gai and Asuma stepped forward.

"I, Kakashi Hatake, sensei of Team Seven hereby recommend all three of my genin, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki ready for the Chunin Exams."

"_What? No way! It is too soon for them."_ Iruka thought to himself in shock.

"I, Kurenai Yuhi, sensei of Team Eight, consisting of Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame and Kiba Inuzuka, recommend all three of my genin ready for the Chunin Exams."

"I, Might Gai, the youthful sensei of Team Nine, Neji Hyuga, Tenten Mugawa and Rock Lee, ready for the Chunin Exams!"

"I, Asuma Sarutobi, leader of Team Ten, consisting of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi, ready for the Chunin Exams as well."

Iruka cried out, "Lord Hokage, if I may speak, some of the genin that were mentioned used to be my students. I believe that it is too soon for them to be put in this exam…it is much too dangerous especially with the known events that will occur during them."

Hiruzen replied firmly, "I understand your concerns, Iruka…but it is not your decision to make. I may sound cold and uncaring, but some of the genin do need a wake-up call, some more than others. This is a perfect way to show it by putting them in the exams and I know it is dangerous with Orochimaru and his spies lurking about in the exams, but we must keep up appearances."

He turned to the Jonin before him, "See me after the debriefing, so I can give you your slips. You are to notify your genin to report to the Academy in Room 315 for the first phase with their signed slip."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!"

The next day, Team Seven appeared for their meeting only for Kakashi to appear late…again and gave them their slips to the Chunin Exams, elsewhere in the training grounds, a girl's voice was heard, "Hey, did you hear? Kakashi's team is going to appear in the Chunin Exams."

"No way, the Sharingan no Kakashi, they must be quite powerful then…"

"Hmph, in the end, fate will dictate that we will be the victor."

After Kakashi gave them the slips, Naruto moved to Tenchi's shop and the scarred man looked over to him, "Ah, Uzumaki-san, you are early today. Hold on for one second…" Tenchi went in the back and Naruto took the time to window shop.

He was already stocked on his primary weapons as well as his ninja tools and portable traps. Tenchi appeared in the front with Kitami in hand, "Here you go, Naruto-san." The Jinchuuriki took back Kitami, she felt a bit lighter, yet more durable.

"Thank you, Tenchi-san, here is your payment as promised."

"Keep it."

Naruto was confused, "I don't understand."

"I was glad to work on such a fine piece of work and the Hokage already paid for it in advance, so don't worry about it."

Naruto stared at him for a moment and then said, "Thanks…" He sealed Kitami in its original position and he strode toward the training grounds while Tenchi thought, _"Whew, he almost caught that lie…he is definitely your son, Minato."_

**Training Area 3-** "Hmm, I wonder…" Naruto said as he unsealed Kitami and sent chakra into the blade. The black sword was lit ablaze with blue chakra. _"Yep, he used a bit of chakra conducting metal , looks like I can use it to send chakra out in an arc…or the destructive one for that matter. I will need to delve in my mind again to collect some again." _The Jinchuuriki thought, _"But first…"_

The blond ninja quickly grabbed his kunai out of his holster and threw at the tree left of him, "Come on out….Tenten, was it?" Tenten appeared behind the tree and said, "How did you know that it was me?"

"I never forget a chakra signature after I sense it…I know the reason that you are following me and I am not going to disclose my personal business all because you recognize this weapon."

"But why not? A genin fresh as you would be spilling their guts out from Iwa and back if he or she had defeated one of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the Mist and lived."

"My case is different because the truth is that I didn't defeat him at all."

"What? Explain yourself!"

"I will say no more, farewell, Tenten-san…"

He did a Shunshin just as Tenten moved to grab him while shouting, "Wait!" Then the weapons mistress cursed, "Damn it, I wouldn't be able to find him now and I will have to survive the Chunin Exams to get more information from him. What does he mean that he didn't defeat him, then how would that explain how he got that sword on his persona."

The young kunoichi went home, empty-handed as Naruto watched her, "Persistent little kunoichi, are you?"

"_Master, you do know that you will not be able to avoid the situation concerning over Nekoshi-san. She will wear you down…"_

"Well, Serenity, let's pray and hope that she doesn't find me at all…or where I live at. Now let's go over what we are going to help Hinata out for tonight." 

**Academy-** Naruto arrived at the Academy the next morning and saw that Sasuke and Sakura were already there. "Hey, guys, ready?" Naruto asked and his fellow teammates nodded as they walked up inside. They walked up to the second floor to see a crowd on the floor, instantly the three noticed the genjutsu on the sign.

Sasuke was about to say something, but Sakura grasped his shoulder and whispered, "Don't say anything at all, Sasuke-kun…if you do, there will be more competition for us and needless battles as well." Sasuke frowned a bit, but understood her logic…he would have a better chance at fighting strong opponents much like Gaara and Naruto.

Team Seven was able to slip past to go up the stairs and the resident Jinchuuriki glanced down to see Tenten and a bowl-haired kid getting knocked around, but then he caught up with his team and met Kakashi at the door.

"Good, you are all here…if you weren't, then I would have been forced to bar you from taking the exams at all. All of you, protect yourselves and each other. Remember, with teamwork, you can defeat even a Jonin." The Hatake said.

Team Seven nodded in unison and proceeded through to have most of the veteran genin stare at them with killing intent. _"This is laughable; I have felt more intimidated when I was training with Zabuza-sensei and Haku-chan. This is ridiculous!"_ Naruto thought to himself.

"Sasuke-kun!" a voice shouted out before the person came over to their position and glomped said object of affection. "Ino, get off of me." Sasuke said. To her rival's surprise, Sakura didn't react to her touching Sasuke at all.

"Hello, Ino…how have you been since I last saw you."

"Forehead…" Ino said, a bit confused, "What has happened to you?"

Sasuke replied, "This is Sakura Haruno, a kunoichi which, unfortunately for you, Ino, I can't say the same." Naruto smirked as he glanced over at the three and thought, _"Good job on playing your part, Sasuke…"_ Ino slowly got off of the Uchiha and joined her teammates.

Shikamaru was speaking with Naruto when the Yamanaka heir appeared. Naruto made his move, "Ino…"

"What, Naruto?" she replied hotly.

"I take it, Sasuke acknowledges Sakura more than you, correct?"

"What do you know?"

"Simple, I know because I am the one that helped Sakura blossom from a fan girl to a kunoichi with skill close to Sasuke's level. Thus she has been in company with him, even training with him in his own home."

Ino's hands balled up into fists as Naruto said, "You envy her, don't you? You want the same thing as well….I can help you there, Ino. If you are serious about being a kunoichi and winning Sasuke's heart, you need to do two things only."

"What is that? Be your slave or something?"

"Ino, I am not that kind of guy to do such a vile thing. I just want you to answer a simple question, why do you like Sasuke so much?"

Ino said, "Because he is smart, cool, handsome and strong….but above all, he has experienced a lot of pain, causing him to shut everyone out. I feel that maybe I could be able to get through to him by being there for him."

"Hmm…your feelings are sincere. Fine, now here is the second thing…meet me at training ground 47 after the exams or when we have a break…and prepare for a long session." Then a silver-haired genin with round spectacles came over to them while saying, "My, my, are you all a lively bunch of genin. I take it that you are all rookies, right?"

Kiba growled out, "Who asked you?"

"Oh, forgive me of my manners, I am Kabuto Yakushi…and particularly you are pissing off the Ame ninjas behind you. They have quite short tempers….but now I will share my information with you since it is your first time." The fellow genin said to them.

"Do you mean that you have taken the exams before, Kabuto-san?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, the exams are held once every six months…unfortunately, I could never pass and now this is my seventh try."

Naruto thought, _"That was too convenient…although he is a Konoha shinobi, he would be desperate on his seventh try. Nobody in their right mind would give out information so easily without trying to con newbies into a favor." _

"You see, there are many teams that have arrived here, mostly from Kusa. Oto is a recent new village, so I don't have that much information on them, so you could ignore them for now."

Sasuke asked, "Excuse me, but do you have information on individuals?"

Kabuto answered with a smile, "Yes…"

"I want the stats on Sabaku no Gaara, Naruto Uzumaki and that team that is staring at us over there." Sasuke said, pointing behind him. Everyone turned to see a Hyuga glaring at Hinata, Tenten was staring at Naruto and the bowl-haired kid's eyes flickered between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Right…Gaara has done one B-Rank and four C-Rank missions, his abilities are currently unknown and rumor has it that he has never been injured at all. Your teammate, Naruto, has done the same number of missions as you and Sakura-san and now he is being called the new Black Cross due to the sword that he acquired on one of your missions. His ninjutsu, taijutsu and kenjutsu are exceptional, but he hardly has any genjutsu ability."

Kabuto drew three more cards, "Neji Hyuga has done twenty D-Rank and twelve C-Rank mission, his taijutsu is the best since he is from the Hyuga clan, but his ninjutsu and genjutsu are non-existent. Rock Lee, same number of missions and his taijutsu is exceptional, but he also has no ninjutsu or genjutsu. Tenten Mugawa, same number of missions and her taijutsu is good as well; she is also a weapons specialist and known that she has never missed a target."

Naruto thought as he glanced at her, _"So she is a weapons specialist, the mid-long range person in the group. Neji is close range as well as Lee."_

Kabuto stated, "Everyone here from the various countries are here to take the exams and it is filled with a lot of talented youngsters."

Hinata whispered, "M-Makes you lose confidence." Sakura's eyes darted over the genin and said, "So everyone here…" Kabuto nodded, finishing her sentence, "Yup, everyone like Gaara-san and Lee-kun are elite genin from their reigning countries."

Suddenly Naruto pushed Kabuto back and held one of the Oto ninjas at knife point with his teammates in a similar fashion with his Kage Bunshin. "I suggest that you three can keep your bloodlust down a little longer or I will have no choice, but to discipline you three for misbehaving."

The Oto ninja was surprised and then he nodded slowly, then Naruto released him and dispelled his clones just as a large white smokescreen appeared and dispersed quickly to reveal a scarred man in a black trench coat along with three squadrons of Chunin.

"Pipe down, maggots! Oto ninjas, like Blondie here said, I suggest that you three save your energy or you will be disqualified from the exams." The bandaged one said, "I apologize for my team, Proctor-san. We were merely…excited."

The man frowned, "For some reason, I believe that I was more than that….this year is going to be bloody." The scarred proctor then shouted, "Everyone, listen up because I will not be repeating myself a second time. I am Ibiki Morino, your first proctor…you will be seating by the number that you draw from this box and sit at the appropriate seats, and then we will hand out the exams. If you try to switch your tile, you will fail immediately…now form a single line."

The Genin complied and each of them took out a tile from the box that was held by a random Chunin. Naruto was happened to be seated by Hinata and a Kusa ninja, "Hello, Hinata-chan…"

"Hai, Naruto-kun, let's do our best, okay?"

"Right! Oh, and Hinata…good to see you talking without stuttering. All of that training did pay off, huh?"

She smiled, "Yes, it did…" Then she thought, _"And maybe….just maybe I will be able to confess my feelings for you now…Naruto-kun."_

Ibiki then barked out, "Alright, you worthless bastards, we must go over the rules before I allow you to turn over your test, also there will be no questions and you each start out with ten points. If you miss one, then you have nine and so on. Now if you are caught cheating, two points will be deducted and after your five chances are done, you will be escorted from the room immediately. Now the second rule…this is a team test to see how much your team can hold up to thirty points."

One of the chunin commented, "We have our eye on you guys." The crowd was a bit shaken, but Ibiki continued, "Realize that the weak ones who get caught are destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to become Chunin, be proud ninjas….now on to the final rule, which is that if a teammate doesn't answer all questions correctly or loses all of their points will fail….along with their two teammates."

Sakura thought, _"What?"_

Ibiki stated, "You now have one hour to complete the test…you may now turn over your tests and begin!" There was a rustle of papers as the genin turned over their papers and began to write down their answers to the questions in complete silence.

Ibiki watched over the genin with a careful eye until his eyes fell upon Naruto, who was staring right back at him. _"What the…hell? The kid is done already with the test, but that is impossible…he is not using any genjutsu nor has he cheated at all, he is supposed to be smart, but those questions are at least high chunin level and have never been seen in the Academy for over seven years."_ The Torture and Interrogation head honcho thought to himself, _"Is...Is he a hidden genius?"_

As if to answer, Naruto smirked at him in amusement. Pretty soon, teams were failed left and right, mostly from Konoha and somewhat Suna. After forty-five minutes has passed, Ibiki called out, "Pencils down! Okay, now it is time to start the tenth question….but before that, let's go over the added rules to the test."

**Nearby Building-** Kakashi said lazily, "It is sure a bit boring without my genin." Asuma said lazily with a unlit cigarette in his mouth, "Don't worry, Kakashi, you will be busy again soon."

"Hmm, why is that, Asuma?"

"I heard that the proctor for the first portion of the exam is Ibiki Morino."

"What? Ibiki? They actually made that sadist a proctor?"

"Who?" Kurenai asked curiously. "Oh, sorry, Kurenai…I forgot that you were recently promoted to Jonin a few years back. You see, Ibiki Morino is one of our best interrogators and prefers the mental approach. When dealing with him, he uses simple words and scenarios to make you torture yourself." Asuma explained.

Back to the the testing room 315, Ibiki stated, "First, you must decide whether to take the question or not." Sasuke thought to himself, "Take the question or not? What does he mean by that?"

Temari asked, "Choose? Then what happens if we decide not to take it?"

Ibiki said as he chuckled lightly, "Well, now that is simple really….if you decide not to take it, then your points will be reduced to zero and you will fail along with your two teammates." A random genin shouted, "Then what the hell is that supposed to mean? Of course, we will take the final question!"

Ibiki gave him a sadistic smirk, "Which brings us to our last rule…if you take the tenth question and just so happen to get your answer wrong, then that unfortunate Genin will never be able to take this exam ever again."

Kiba shouted with an accusing finger pointing at Ibiki, "That is not fair! There are guys here that have taken this exam before….you don't have the power." Ibiki laughed at him, "You guys are unlucky…this year, it is my rules and my rules are law until you walk out of this room with the next proctor…but fear not, for I am giving you a way out, if you quit right now, you will have the ability to try again next year. Now let's begin the final question, but first who wants to give up?"

Soon various genin began to quit due to the pressure and when the room was almost completely empty, Ibiki asked, "Anyone else want to quit?" No one raised their hand or stood up, then Ibiki thought, _"Fine, then it is time to give them the final verdict…and the shock of their lives."_

"For those of you left over, you all…have passed the first test."

A collective 'WHAT' was heard throughout the room and then Sakura asked, "But…what about the tenth question?" Ibiki smiled at her, "The tenth question was basically the choice to take it or not."

Temari shot out her question, "Then what about the other nine, what was their purpose?"

"Those questions were made for Chunin to answer, thus you genin couldn't answer them unless you were extremely smart. For the rest, it forced you to realize that the only way for you to pass was to cheat. We had two or more chunin disguised as Genin with the correct answers stationed nearby and those who were caught by cheating poorly were escorted out as you know."

The Torture and Interrogation leader untied his Konoha bandana to display his bald, scarred head obscured with various screw holes and old burns. "Because…at times, information is more important than life and people will risk everything to get it."

Sasuke thought to himself, _"The after-effects of torture."_

Ibiki retied the bandana, "If the enemy notices you, there is no guarantee that the information will be accurate. Information can be the greatest weapon for your country and teammates."

Temari said, "But…I still don't understand the tenth question."

"The tenth question was based on a choice, a leap of faith if you call that, which could make you or break you. The ability to face any hardships and be perilous is the qualifications for a chunin….so I wish you guys luck."

Naruto gave him a smirk and Ibiki smirked back as he thought, _"You are an interesting kid…"_


	9. Silent Vow

**Chapter 9- Silent Vow**

Anko let the Genin to a training ground, which had a circular fence with gates surrounding the edges and a sign that was written 'Forbidden: only Chunin and Jonin allowed.' The Tokubetsu Jonin turned to them and said, "Welcome to Training Ground #44, the second stage of your exam. In Konoha, it also bears another name, the name of the Forest of Death."

Naruto commented, "It doesn't really look like much to me…"

Anko trained her eyes on him and smiled, "You are a spirited one…" The Jinchuuriki instantly knew that she was going to try something and the proctor popped out a hidden kunai from her sleeve quickly to throw it at Naruto's head.

Naruto tilted his head to the side to avoid it completely; the knife embedded itself into the ground after cutting a strand of a Kusa Genin's hair. Anko appeared behind Naruto with a kunai at his neck, "Aww, you didn't get cut...but all of the spirited ones are the ones that are killed first, spilling that red blood that I love so much."

Then she turned with another kunai in hand as the Kusa Genin returned her weapon using her tongue. "Yeah…please don't creep up behind me like that; I have a tendency to kill people when they do that." The Genin replied, "I apologize…I just wanted to return your kunai. It cut my precious hair and after seeing you in action…my blood is just rushing with excitement."

Hinata thought in fear, _"Naruto-kun…."_

"_What is up with this examiner? This is bad."_ Sakura thought, _"And that Kusa girl too…"_

"Looks like we got some bloodthirsty ones in this test. Hehehe….this should be fun." Anko said with a smirk while Naruto thought, _"You are the bloodthirsty one…"_

Anko regained her composure, "Well, then before we start the exam, you have to sign these papers…there will be deaths in this one and if you don't sign these, it will be my responsibility. I am going to explain the test, and then you can sign them. After that, each team will check in at that booth behind me."

She handed Naruto the waiver forms and he passed them out as she said, "Simply put…you will attempt the ultimate survival. First, I will explain the area….there are 44 gates exactly and there is a forest, a river and a tower in the center. Each gate is exactly 10 km away from each other. During the survival in here, you will be asked to complete a certain task. Using the weapons and jutsu that you have, you will compete in a no rules scroll battle. You will fight over these two scrolls 'heaven' and 'earth'. Since there are 26 teams here, half will get heaven and the other will get earth. To pass this test….you must reach the tower with both scrolls."

Sakura muttered, "So half of the teams will definitely fail because of this requirement."

Anko said, "There also is a time limit, the test will last for 120 hours, for those of you who hate math, it equals up to five days…"

Ino protested loudly, "Five days?!"

Choji said, "What about food?"

Anko said, "You are on your own….the forest is filled with food, you just have to watch out for the man-eating beasts, poisonous plants, poisonous insects, etc. and 13 teams passing is not likely. As the days progressed, the time to rest is shorter and the distance to the goal is farther, plus the area is filled with enemies, you will not get that much sleep. So you can fail not only for losing the scroll, but the harshness of the course."

She smiled, "Now let's talk about what will disqualify you…first, those who don't make to the tower within the 120 hour time limit. Second, those who lose a teammate or have their teammate killed. As a rule, there is no quitting in the middle of the exam, so if you are going to be a pussy, don't sign those papers. You will be in the forest for five days and also you can't look inside the scroll until you make it to the tower."

Shikamaru asked, "What happens if you do?"

Anko said, "Why spoil the surprise when you can dare to find out yourselves? Chunin are asked to handle classified information, this is to test your trustworthiness. That is it, exchange your 3 forms for your scroll, and then choose a gate to get ready for the start."

Naruto smirked as he already signed his on the spot while Anko was explaining the rules. Anko said, "Oh, and a final word of advice….just don't die." Just then a random Chunin came out from the tarp to state that it was about time to exchange the scrolls to the teams.

As the teams went to get their scrolls, the Uchiha thought as he watched, _"I see…so you can't tell which team gets which scroll or who on the team is carrying the scroll, the times that I wish I had a Byakugan. It is just exactly what Ibiki said, in this test we will be risking our lives fighting for information…everyone is an enemy and everyone is determined, there will be killing."_

Anko looked around, "Hehe, looks like the meaning of the signing that form has sunk it." Soon the Genin teams were placed at different gates to go through and Anko said, "Everyone, follow an instructor and go to your gates….we will begin the second phase in thirty minutes."

As thirty minutes passed, Anko declared the start and the Genin raced through their gates. Somewhere in the forest, there was a team in matching spandex suits that were watching Team Eight. Kiba stated, "So basically everyone is headed to the tower, right? Then setting traps near there would be best." Akamaru quietly barked and Kiba said, "So they are here already, eh? Where?" Akamaru shifted his head to the left and upwards.

One of the spandex Konoha ninja said, "Heh, kids just standing there out in the open. Do they want to be found? Looks like they have sensed us, but they don't know where exactly we are." Abruptly he started to shiver and one of his teammates said, "Hey, what's wrong, you are turning blue…"

Then he noticed something out of the back of his shirt, "What the hell is that?!" Suddenly giant leeches dropped from the canopy and fell to the ground. "Konoha jumping leeches will sense all life forms and attack in a group, five minutes of sucking and you will be shipped off to the next world. Realizing that and setting traps where the enemy might escape to. One down!"

Suddenly the trap that the Konoha group was under activated and they screamed loud. Anko heard them and commented, "Well, looks like they started already…."

**Team Seven-** "Okay, now who is holding the scroll?" Naruto asked. Sakura answered logically, "It should be the middleman in terms of strength, here in Konoha, it is established that Sasuke-kun here is the strongest out of our group, therefore underestimating you, Naruto. You should hold on to the scroll while Sasuke holds a decoy, just in case something happens."

She turned to Sasuke, "Do you agree with this plan?" The Uchiha smirked, "Not bad, Sakura…I agree to this plan, besides I just want to fight strong opponents and in this exam…" He looked at Naruto as he continued, "You have no choice, but to fight me in the exam if you want to become a chunin."

The Uzumaki sighed, "Alright, Sasuke, let's just get through this part now and be alert for anything…" Then he thought, _"There is no doubt in my mind that Orochimaru will definitely appear in this part for Sasuke, I just hope my plan works…"_

Serenity said, "Actually, Naruto-sama, he is already here…."

"_What? When?"_

"That Kusa Genin that returned Anko-san's kunai confirms that it was Orochimaru by a chance of seventy-eight percent."

"_I will take that chance, how couldn't I have noticed that factor? So it is that Kusa team we have to watch out for, but no doubt that display earlier will make Sakura and Sasuke wary of her….him."_ As they ran through the forest, "Now what is the plan?" Sakura asked.

"Simple, we find a team, take their scroll and get to the tower….easy enough." Sasuke said and Naruto glanced at him, "You just happened to glance at which team has which kind of scroll?"

"No, I called in a favor from Hinata…she used her Byakugan and told me that she found two Ame teams who had the Earth scroll we need and four Konoha teams who had Heaven before she was caught."

"What did you give her in exchange?"

Sasuke smirked, "Some information on her cousin…." In reality, it was Naruto's likes and dislikes that he gave to Hinata and Naruto commented, "Good thinking, Sasuke…" Then he tensed up and whispered to his teammates, "Heads up…we are not alone."

Suddenly shuriken and senbon were thrown at the three teammates, who scattered about momentarily to see that it was an Ame team. Sakura looked over at Sasuke for confirmation and saw him give her the slightest nods.

Naruto activated his gloves while the leader of the Ame team spoke up, "I hope you don't mind us taking your scroll, kids." Sakura retorted casually, "You mind giving us a name, oji-san?" Then she thought to herself, _"Naruto must have rubbed off of me…"_

"I am called Shigure; these are my teammates, Baiu and Midare. You will pay for your insolence, little girl!" He shouted as he threw up his umbrella, then flipped through hand signs, **"Ninpo: Joro Senbon!"**

"**Doton: Doro Domu!"** Naruto slammed his hands on the ground and an earth dome quickly came over Team Seven, protecting his teammates from the senbon. "Okay, Sasuke, Shigure is yours…Sakura, you take the one called Midare and I will take the short one."

The two nodded and Naruto released the dome from the back, letting Sasuke and Sakura discreetly entered from the back, just as the Ame Team were coming around. Sasuke kicked Shigure in the face while Sakura sent a kunai at Midare, who dodged it.

Naruto burst from his earth prison and fired blasts of flame at Baiu, who was forced to dodge and then pulled out hidden swords from his two umbrellas. The Jinchuuriki dodged a thrust from his left one and ducked under a swipe with the right one to give Baiu a strike to the stomach.

Baiu stumbled back, clutching his stomach and then Naruto gave him two punches across the face, one on both sides and gave him a savage roundhouse kick to the head, knocking Baiu into a tree and knocking him unconscious.

As Baiu slumped to the ground, Naruto checked his pouch to see that he was carrying some ninja wire; Ame issued kunai and shuriken along with some scrolls. He took the ninja wire and tied up Baiu securely, but enough to that he wouldn't be able to get out for at least a few minutes.

With Sakura, she was in a knife/taijutsu match with Midare. She blocked a swipe at her midsection and then returned the favor with a well-placed kick to the chest. She sprang at him to stab his arm, but the Ame Nin sent his feet up in the air, catching her chin. "You will not beat me that easily, little girl…" he declared with a smirk.

Sakura spat out blood from her cut lip and launched herself at him. Foregoing his swords, the Ame Nin flipped through hand seals as he shouted, **"Suiton: Suikodan!"** The water from the lake behind him sprang out over him towards Sakura, but to his surprise, the water went through her.

"A Bunshin? When did she?!" He said, but then he saw Sakura coming at him with a punch, causing his head to snap to the side, then she slammed her knee into his stomach. Midare stumbled back, holding his stomach and Sakura didn't relent to give him an uppercut, making his head snap up.

Finally the Haruno performed a sabat kick to his chest, making Midare gasp for air. Next, the pink-haired kunoichi used the ring of her kunai to knock out her opponent, sending into his temple, the Ame Nin fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.

Sakura also searched to find the same equipment as Naruto did, but she also found a set of twin Fuma Kodachi within a scroll, making her smirk and kept them as she tied up Midare with his own wire as the Jinchuuriki dragged his downed opponent to her position.

"You found the scroll?"

Sakura shook her head no and looked over at Sasuke, who had the upper hand, "Well, let's put them together, so we can watch Sasuke's entertaining fight. With Sasuke, the Uchiha dodged under Shigure's kick and then caught his other one to twist it, making the 19-year-old fall to the ground, then grappled with him by sitting on his back and pulling his leg back.

Shigure struggled as he grimaced in pain, then he swung his elbow into the Uchiha's side in rapid succession, causing Sasuke to lose his grip and the Ame ninja flipped him over, but Sasuke rolled to the the side and stood up quickly. The two circled each other as they drew their respected weapons.

Sasuke took out two kunai while Shigure unsheathed a hidden sword to put it in a reverse grip. "You are pretty good, but you will not defeat me with that level of skill." Shigure commented and the Uchiha smirked, "Then it looks like I will have to take it up a notch…Sharingan!" Immediately, Sasuke's onyx eyes transitioned into a dark red with two tomoe surrounding his pupils in both eyes.

Shigure narrowed his lone eye, "An Uchiha…I thought that accursed clan were all wiped out, but no matter…at least I can reply the kindness that one of your clan member did when he took my eye away from me when I was ten."

"In my opinion, I think it suits you better…women these days dig battles scars, plus it does attract attention away from that ugly mug of yours."

Shigure growled in anger as he launched his attack by swiping at Sasuke's head, but the Uchiha used his two kunai to block. Then the Rain ninja sent a punch to Sasuke's face, but his Sharingan caught it and he craned his head to the side to dodge.

Next, Shigure went for a roundhouse kick, but Sasuke ducked under it and sent his weapons at Shigure's head, but the Ame Nin leaned his head back and the Uchiha smirked as he gave him a left-right combo to the chest, then another combo to his face and ended it with a jumping kick to the face.

"Eat it…" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Why you…**Suiton: Suishoha!**"

Sasuke's smirk disappeared as the lake sent out a huge wave from behind, he jumped in the air as he flipped through hand signs, **"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"** The fireball sprang from his mouth and evaporated some of the water that was coming at him.

"I have got you!" Shigure shouted as he was poised to kill him, but the Uchiha immediately used Kawarimi and appeared behind the Rain ninja to land a chop to the back of his neck. "Well, that was slightly entertaining…" Soon the three Ame Ninjas were left on the ground, unconscious and tied up.

"Did you get their scroll?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I believe that Shigure has got it…" Sakura said and the Uchiha checked the Ame Nin for the scroll to find it and said, "Alright, now all we have to do is get to the tower…" Suddenly Naruto felt the wind stinging against his cheek and a large wind came through to blow them away, but all three of them stood their ground.

"Oh, I wanted to blow all of three of you away…oh, well, I may as well play with you before I take your scroll and your life." A feminine voice said from above. Team Seven looked up to see that it was the mysterious Kusa Nin with the long tongue.

"_Shit…it's Orochimaru! Damn, I didn't think that he would get here that fast…he must be here for Sasuke's Sharingan!"_ Naruto thought. "Or he could be after you, Naruto…you do have me inside of you, augmenting your abilities." Serenity added.

"_The thing is why didn't he grab any from the massacre happened?"_

"If he had implanted them like Kakashi-san did, it would have sap his reserves. He would need to be an Uchiha to use it to the full extent, my guess that he either has the power to possess Sasuke's body or needs to do an experiment on Sasuke to imprint his being into Sasuke's brain; this is also the factor that he would need a lot of blood to incorporate into his system. Either way, he has to take him away from the village to do either of those."

The female Kusa Nin chuckled evilly as she pressed her finger on her eyelid while she launched her killing intent, freezing Team Seven in place as they each saw their own gruesome deaths. "Master, it is an illusion! Fight it!" Serenity cried out in alarm.

The Jinchuuriki complied and he was able to move a bit, but Sakura wasn't used to it. Due to Itachi's use of Tsukiyomi, Sasuke was able to move and override the killing intent with pain to grab Sakura and Naruto followed after him.

"What is she?" murmured Sasuke, "A monster…"

"Sasuke…we have to make a stand…"

"What? No way! You saw what she did to us back there; there is no way that we win this battle!"

"We've no choice, but to fight. She will just pressure us until we are dead. We must take a stand against her and come on; fear didn't stop us from taking on Zabuza, right?"

Sasuke bit his lip a bit as Naruto continued, "I am terrified of her power as well, but I am terrified of losing my teammates…my friends to death. I have already lost someone to its clutches and I will not let that happen again, now when I am around…"

Sakura's eyes fluttered a bit and snapped open as she shouted, "Look out!" The three of them moved in opposite directions to avoid a snake from swallowing them whole. Sasuke threw shuriken into the snake's mouth, ripping its insides to shreds and it fell dead.

"Way to give yourself away, Orochimaru…" Naruto said.

"Oh, you have heard of me, Naruto-kun?"

"You are the only one who can summon snakes that big beside our proctor, Anko Mitarashi…what do you want?"

Orochimaru burst from the snake's carcass, dripping with slime and ripped the skin off his face to reveal his pale face with purple markings and slitted yellow eyes, "Isn't it obvious? I want Sasuke Uchiha and the power of his Sharingan."

Sasuke replied, "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am straight…strictly, very strictly and as for the Sharingan, over my dead body." Orochimaru chuckled, "I need you alive for that….it seems that you need some motivation."

Instantly Naruto acted by throwing a flash ball, which blinded the Snake Sannin momentarily and Naruto activated his gloves to send a flaming ball in the air, which exploded. Anko looked up and said, "Go! Quickly! The ANBU will be there in five minutes, we must provide support!"

The flames came down at Orochimaru, who dodged them much like a snake and Naruto came in forward on him to stab him with a kunai. Orochimaru gurgled, but then he turned into mud and Naruto thought, _"A Doton Kage Bunshin?!" _

He turned to look behind him to receive a kick to the face and Orochimaru said, "You are in the way of my ambition!" Sakura flipped through hand seals as she shouted, **"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu!"** She spat out small fireballs and the Snake Sannin deftly dodged them only to get Naruto's foot in his face.

"You will not get your hands on Sasuke…"

"Sasuke-kun needs my power in order for him to kill his brother." Orochimaru stated.

Sakura glared at the man, "That is completely bullshit! Nobody can give the power to defeat a Jonin without some kind of recuperation of a deal."

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with us!" Naruto shouted in anger, "Admit it, you could have infiltrated Konoha during the Uchiha Massacre to implant some Sharingan into your eyes since there were plenty of them, but that would sap your chakra since you knew Kakashi's predicament. So somehow you have found some way to make yourself an Uchiha by needing Sasuke or Itachi's blood."

The Jinchuuriki smirked, "I bet you were too weak to get Itachi's own because he is stronger than you, so why should Sasuke go to you when you can't even defeat Itachi yourself?!" Orochimaru glared at Naruto and said, "I am going to deal with you first!"

He sprang at Naruto, but suddenly kunai stopped him from getting any closer. "That is far enough, Orochimaru!" The Snake Sannin glanced up to see three squads of ANBU in front of him and one of them asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Sightseeing…"

"Regardless, you are wanted for treason, kidnapping and unlawful experimentation…as the captain of the ANBU, I place you under arrest."

"Sorry, but I still got my get out of jail free card." The Snake Sannin backed up into the branch and melded with it while the leader shouted orders, "Squad Alpha and Beta, search for him, do not let him escape! Squad Theta, escort Team Seven to the towers if they have their scrolls."

"HAI!"

Naruto recognized one of them, "Neko-san…"

"Hello, Uzumaki-san, does you team have both scrolls?"

"Yes, we do…"

"Good, then you will pass on the next phase, let's go…"

**Tower-** Squad Theta and Team Seven appeared at the tower without difficulty and there was the Hokage standing. "Report!" the old man barked out. The ANBU team knelt before him and Neko reported, "Hokage-sama, your informant was correct, Orochimaru has revealed himself and it appears that his primary objective is to possess the Sharingan from Sasuke Uchiha."

"I see, so he had finished that jutsu…" Hiruzen said.

"What jutsu?" Sasuke asked and the Hokage said to him, "I suppose I should tell you three about my student. After Orochimaru's parents died, he became obsessed of immortalizing himself; he delved in researching of making a jutsu that would allow to live forever in a sense. He was working on a jutsu that overtakes a person's soul and supplanting his own thus taking over the body along with its special abilities."

Sasuke was disgusted with the idea and said, "Naruto mentioned that Orochimaru did the same thing with my brother, but it backfired and it seems that he was very pissed about it." The Hokage said, "Maybe the Sharingan when it is fully mature can negate the effects…I would isolate you, Sasuke, but I am afraid that Orochimaru would do something to the village and placing Sasuke in open like nothing happened may place you at high risk. Sasuke…I am afraid that I will have to restrict your movements to a minimum and have you trained as well as watched by Kakashi regardless if you pass or not in this next phase."

He turned to Naruto and Sakura, "Naruto, Sakura, I am going to ask you to keep quiet about what I have said in these past minutes. Sakura, if you pass this part, I will have you trained by Anko Mitarashi and Kurenai Yuhi. Naruto, your trainer will be coming here as well…"

Team Seven nodded and Sarutobi said, "Your team will be watched until the end of the second phase, no questions asked." Again, they nodded and they were escorted to a room with Squad Theta outside of their door.

**Room-** Team Seven sat in silence as they replayed the events in their heads until Sasuke said, "We have to get stronger…" Sakura stated, "Yes, but over the span of a few years…we can't exactly protect each other let alone ourselves."

"We can try…" Naruto said, "Mikoto-san and Kakashi can protect themselves, besides Orochimaru wouldn't dare to approach Sasuke around Kakashi and Mikoto-san, especially a mother trying to protect her child is a dangerous person to fight. As for me and Sakura, we are obstacles to getting to you…because you are our friend."

Sakura said, "Yuhi-san is the sensei of Team Eight and I have heard that she is the best at using genjutsu while Anko Mitarashi…you mention that she summoned snakes, right, Naruto? Was she taught by Orochimaru?"

"Yes, she was…she was the only one that has been taught by Orochimaru and because that she is not well-liked because of that factor, but on the flip side, she is the only one who knows how Orochimaru works, his techniques, mannerisms etc."

Sasuke said, "Like me, he specializes in ninjutsu and genjutsu, so the only way to stop him from using those is to work mostly on our taijutsu. To keep up with his hand seals and moves, I will need to upgrade my Sharingan to the third tier in order to reverse the effects."

Naruto stood up, "Then that settles it…we will get stronger after the exams are finished and when we meet Orochimaru again, we will defeat him." He put his hand out and said, "Let's make it official…" Sasuke and Sakura put their hands over Naruto's own as they each made a silent promise to become stronger.

The three of them took a rest, each of them with a kunai under their pillow in case that should someone slip into the room.

**Hokage Tower-** "Orochimaru has made his move; I want everyone to be alert for anything. One of the villages may be in cohorts with Orochimaru since we know that he doesn't have enough manpower to destroy this village." Sarutobi said to the Jonin and Chunin.

**Forest of Death-** "Curses! I was so close, that damn Jinchuuriki interfered with my plans to get Sasuke!" Orochimaru said angrily, "Kabuto! I want you to keep an eye on Naruto Uzumaki and when you get the chance, kill him…I will have Sasuke's body and the destruction of Konoha during our invasion with Suna."

Kabuto bowed lowly, "It shall be done, Lord Orochimaru…I will take care of everything."

Four days later, The Rookie Nine, along with Team Gai, Team Kabuto, Team Dosu, and Team Gaara stood before their senseis, proctors and the Hokage himself. "First off, for the second test, congratulations on passing!" Anko said, and then she thought to herself, _"I never would expect 24 of them to be here, I was expecting single digits actually…but at least I cut them in half practically."_

Gai stated, "Your team is not that bad, Kakashi. Maybe they got lucky, but with my team around, getting any further is nigh impossible now since from now it's about real skill. Well, with youth, there are sweet times and sour times, eh, Kakashi?"

"Huh, oh, I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"_Damn you, Kakashi! You make me so mad! Why do you always have to act so cool?!"_

"_For so many to be here and most of them are rookies…"_ Sarutobi thought, and then he whispered as he looked at their senseis, "No wonder they nominated them all…" Anko spoke up, "Now Hokage-sama will now explain the third test, listen carefully."

"Thank you, Anko…now before we begin the third test, there is something that I must bring to your attention, it concerns with the true reason of this exam."

"_True reason?"_ thought Sakura.

"Why do we have all the allied countries taking the exam together?" The Hokage asked rhetorically, "To promote friendship among the countries? To raise the level of shinobi? I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning. The exam is…"

Tenten thought to herself, _"Is…"_

"A replacement for war between the allied countries." Sarutobi finished. The bun-haired kunoichi asked, "What does that mean?" The Hokage answered, "If we were to go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule. In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that countries chose for battle…the origins of this Chunin Exam."

"Why the hell do we have to do this crap? Wasn't this test for deciding who is a chunin?!" Naruto voiced out. "It is a fact that this exam decides which shinobi have what it takes to become a chunin, but on the other hand, the exam has another side to it, where each country's shinobi risks their own life to protect their land's reputation." Sarutobi replied after taking a puff from his pipe.

Ino piped up, "I don't understand…"

"Watching the third phase of the exam will be leaders and influential individuals. From many countries that make up the clients of the shinobi and the leaders of those leaders will also be there to watch each of your battles. If the strength of a country is clear, then that country will gain more clients and conversely, if seen as weak, that country will lose clients. This also send a political message to potential enemy countries, by saying that 'our village has this much power'."

Kiba blurted out, "Yeah, but why?! Why it is that we must risk our lives in battle?!"

"Simple…the strength of the country is the strength of the village, which is the strength of the shinobi and a shinobi's true strength is only shown through life-risking battles. This exam is a place to observe each country's power and to show off your own power. It only has meaning because lives are at risk and that is why those that have come before you have fought in the Chunin Exam for this dream are meaningful."

"But then why…" Tenten asked, "Do you say stuff about it being for 'friendship'"

"I said it in the beginning; I don't want to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance, this is the shape of friendship in the world of the shinobi, now before we begin the final test, I will tell you one more thing, this is not only a test…it is a life-risking battle with your dreams and your country's reputation on the line."

"I get it…" Naruto said to himself as he crossed his arms while Gaara said in monotone, "I don't care what it is…just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails." The Hokage said, "Of course, I would like to explain the third test, but…"

"Actually *cough*…" A sickly voice interrupted. A Jonin appeared before the Hokage, "I apologize, Hokage-sama, for the interruption. From here on, as the referee for this part of the exam, will you please allow me, Gekko Hayate…"

"By all means…"

Hayate turned to the Genin, "Hello, everyone, I am Hayate…umm, before we begin, there's something that I would like you to do. Umm, it is a preliminary for the third phase to decide who gets to participate in the main event."

"Preliminary?" The bubblegum- haired Genin whispered to herself.

Shikamaru shouted, "Preliminary?! What do you mean?"

"Sensei, I don't understand this preliminary, but why aren't all the people here allowed to participate in the next test." Sakura said meekly.

"The first and second test proved to be too easy for you Genin, so in a result *cough* we have too many people remaining. According to the Chunin Exam Rules, it is required to have a preliminary to reduce the number of participants for the next test."

"No way…"

"As Hokage-sama indicated earlier, there will be many people watching your fights, so the fights could take too long, we are limited in time. Umm…so anyway…those who are not feeling well or who feel like quitting after these explanations please come forward now since we will be starting the preliminary immediately…"

"What?! Right now!?" Kiba shouted in disbelief.

Kabuto looked at Orochimaru, who nodded his head, indicating that he should stay in to gather information on his primary subject, Uchiha Sasuke and possibly kill Naruto Uzumaki."Nobody wants to retire? Oh…umm, I forgot to tell you that you all will be battling individually, you may raise your hand based on your own judgment." Hayate said with a cough.

One of the teammates on Kabuto forfeited his position and Hayate checked him off as he left the arena.

"Alright, then since we have an even number of 20 contestants, we will have 10 matches…and the winners will advance to the third test. There are basically no rules, the fight continues until one of you dies or knocked out or concedes defeat. *Cough* If you don't want to die, then I suggest that you forfeit quickly…but when I clearly decided who is the winner since we don't want pointless corpses, I will jump in and stop things and the object that controls your destiny is…" Hayate stated.

Anko muttered into her headset, "Open it."

The wooden board slid upwards to reveal an electric score board. "Is this electric score board will show the match-ups for each battle. Now this is sudden, but let's announce the names for this fight." Hayate said.

The board flipped through the Genin's names randomly until they stopped at Sasuke Uchiha and Yoroi Akado. Everyone did so and Hayate said, "Now **Match 1**: Sasuke Uchiha versus Yoroi Akado…begin!"

Yoroi did the Tora sign, "Are you ready?" His right hand glowed ablaze with chakra as his left had reached into his pouch. Sasuke reached in his holster. Yoroi flicked them at the Uchiha, but the Uchiha did an overhand strike with his kunai, sending the projectiles back at him.

The overhead strike made it that he overextended himself and Sasuke fell down to the ground. Yoroi saw the opportunity and acts by moving toward Sasuke.

He aimed his right hand to smash Sasuke's head, but the Uchiha rolled to the side and slammed the kunai point into the ground, then he tripped Yoroi using his feet, then maneuvered him into a wrestling move, threatening to break his arm. But Yoroi's hand grabbed Sasuke's shirt and Sasuke felt his strength fading away fast.

His grip on Yoroi's arm slipped and Yoroi elbowed Sasuke in the gut, and then flipped up into a kneeling position.

Sasuke thought, _"What was that? My strength just suddenly…"_The weird ninja then moved toward the fallen avenger, causing Sakura to shout in alarm. Sasuke looked up to see Yoroi's chakra-infused hand clamped on his head, and the Uchiha began to feel weaker and weaker.

"You…my chakra!" Sasuke said.

Yoroi chuckled, "So you finally noticed, it's about time."

Orochimaru thought, _"Yoroi's special ability is that he can suck chakra rendering the person useless and weak by a touch of his hand. When he sucks all of your chakra, you will be weak enough for me to give my seal to you."_

Sasuke moved his leg to prop it against Yoroi, "Ugh…damn…you!"

Yoroi was kicked away and skidded away, "So…it seems that you still have power left?" Yoroi charged again, having Sasuke dodged the swipes of his hand. Sasuke aimed a roundhouse kick at him, but Yoroi jumped over and landed away from him.

Sasuke thought desperately, "_If he tries to touch me one more time, I am done for and he will try to get in close combat with me. What do I do?"_

Gaara thought, _"Is that all you have….Uchiha Sasuke."_

Naruto shouted after he looked upon the pained face of Sakura, "Sasuke! Are you really Uchiha Sasuke?! Is this the best you can do?" Sasuke looked to see Naruto and Lee on the balcony, _"That's it…I know what to do."_ He thought.

Yoroi charged at Sasuke, "It's over, Uchiha!"

But the next move surprised everyone especially Lee as Sasuke used the same move that Lee used on him. _"That's my…"_ Lee thought as his sensei said, "What?"

Sasuke appeared behind Yoroi, "Though from here, it's all original from here." Sasuke said, "It's over." The Uchiha poked him in the back and the opposing ninja recognized the move, "Kage Buyou?"

"Take this!"

"Here it comes." The Uchiha declared.

Sasuke pushed off of Yoroi's back and aimed a kick at Yoroi's right side.

Yoroi blocked the kick and scoffed, "Not enough." Sasuke grimaced and used the momentum of his kick to aim a punch to his unguarded left side.

Kakashi said, "Not enough…eh?" Yoroi's head snapped downwards, but Sasuke did not relent."Get your ass back here!" the Uchiha shouted as he used his right arm to catch his opponent in the chest.

Before Yoroi hit the ground, Sasuke turned to land a kick in the chest as he shouted, "There's more! **Shishi RENDEN!**" Yoroi's head snapped upwards to cough up blood and he was knocked unconscious.

Sasuke slid to the side before coming to a complete stop. _"Like I have to check."_ The sickly proctor thought as he checked the pulse of Yoroi, and then turned his head to the side to smile at the wobbly Uchiha. "I am stopping this match, thus Uchiha Sasuke is the winner of this match."

Sasuke fell backwards only for Kakashi to catch him with his foot, "Well, good job…" Sasuke let out a small smile as he scoffed a bit, then the lanky Jonin thought, _"That movement before the Shishi Rendan was from Gai's Goken…he must have copied it when he tousled with Lee earlier."_

"Sasuke! What a lame way to win! You are all beat up, idiot!" Naruto yelled out.

"That damn…total moron." The Uchiha said as he looked at his teammate, then he turned to look at Lee as he thought, _"Thanks to you, Lee, I was able to survive…if I hadn't seen your move earlier, then I would have been in trouble…but it is not a move for me to count on."_ Sasuke's body began to rake in pain as he sat on the ground.

"_I see…that time, you were able to copy a part of my technique from just seeing it once. That is your ability…Sasuke-kun, what are a person you are…you will only get stronger and stronger, even I feel…fear."_ Lee thought to himself.

Gai thought, _"Mastering a part of the super taijutsu technique, 'Lotus' is impossible without grueling training…even with the Sharingan, it's not something that can be perfected quickly and the creativity of that finishing move. Kakashi…he reminds me of you when you were young."_

Tenten thought as she looked between Neji and Sasuke, _"This is interesting…last year rookie was Neji and this year, it is Sasuke...which is stronger, I wonder?" _

"_But what a guy…to release the true power of the Sharingan here, the terrifying Uchiha blood."_ Kakashi thought as he looked at his student.

Kakashi said, "Now let's get you out of here now." Sasuke said, "Can you wait until the prelims are over, I want to observe the matches." Kakashi said, "Don't worry, I'm sure your teammates and I will tell you all about them and their fighting styles." Kakashi took Sasuke away as the screen flashed to reveal the next match.

Hayate coughed, "Will*cough*Abumi Zaku and *cough*Aburame Shino please come down?" Zaku said, "Who the hell is this loser? This will be easier than I thought." Shino quietly walked down the stairs to the arena.

Sakura looked at them and saw Zaku's arms were still in a sling. _"That Sound Nin...he looks up to something if he is going to fight with broken arms."_ She thought to herself.

"Will Shino-kun be alright?" Hinata asked her feral teammate and Kiba answered, "Yeah, he will be…he is strong, he is one person even I don't want to fight." Hayate said calmly, "**Match 2:** Zaku Abumi versus Shino Aburame…please begin."

"_Now Zaku…it will be interesting to see how you fight."_ Dosu thought, then Orochimaru disappeared and Dosu looked on without saying a word. Shino spoke to Zaku in monotone, "If you fight here, you will never fight again, it's best if you forfeit."

Zaku's left arm twitched a bit and he began to move, "It seems that this one can move a bit, but I only need one arm to kick your weird ass." Zaku flew at Shino, but the Aburame brought his arm to block Zaku's strike.

Zaku cursed, "Damn it!"

Shino replied, "It is useless, you can't beat me with just one arm." Zaku retorted, "Shut the hell up! Take this!" Zaku's hand opened to reveal his air hole, **"Zankuuha!"** The blow hit Shino full force in the head and Shino rolled on the ground, smoking.

"Hehehe!" Zaku chuckled with a smirk, "Hey, get your ass up!" Shino slowly got up and revealed something that Zaku was slightly disturbed. What the Oto Nin saw was that Shino had bugs crawling under his skin…literally. _"W-What the? He has…bugs from inside his body?"_Zaku thought to himself.

Then he heard a multitude of noises behind and turned to see an army of bugs behind him. Shino explained, "They are called kikaichu bugs, they attack in numbers and consume chakra. Like I said, if this many behind you get you, you'll never be a ninja ever again. If you don't want that then you should give up." Zaku glared at him for putting him in this predicament.

Shino pushed up his shades, "If you decide to attack me with your arm, then the bugs will get you and if you attack my bugs, I attack you." Zaku cursed loudly, "Damn…" Shino said, "You should always save your trump card at the last moment."

Zaku thought as images from his past of the meeting with Orochimaru came into view, _"I can't…I can't continue to fail!"_ Zaku shouted, "Don't mess with me!" Zaku pulled his right arm out as he declared in a proud voice, "Heh…you should always have a trump card at the last moment, right?"

Kiba shouted, "What? He can use his right arm too!"

Dosu thought, _"So it was all an act that his right arm was completely useless…heh, good one, Zaku."_ Zaku shouted, "Take this!" Suddenly his arms imploded and one of them fell to the ground.

Zaku looked at it in shock as he saw kikaichu coming out of the air tubes. Shino came behind Zaku as he said, "When I told you to give up, I sent some of them to close your dangerous air holes with their bodies. That is a true trump card."

Zaku shouted, "You bastard!" He sent a punch, but the Aburame ducked and back handed Zaku. Hayate declared, "Shousha: Aburame Shino."

**Stadium Arena-** Hayate said, "Okay, now **Match 3:** Sabaku no Kankuro and Kabuto Yakushi, will you please come down to the arena?"

Kankuro said, "Heh, this will be easy enough."

Baki, the sensei of Team Gaara, said, "Kankuro, don't get cocky."

Kankuro pretended that he didn't hear him at all and continued to the arena. Temari muttered, "That idiot is going to get himself killed." Kankuro stood and faced Kabuto, Yoroi's teammate. Kabuto glanced at Orochimaru, who discreetly told him to make it look interesting.

Kankuro said, "Hey, sorry, but I plan on winning this match."

Hayate shouted, "Begin!"

Kankuro started things off by throwing a punch to Kabuto's face, but the Konoha spy blocked it with his forearm and then sent a kick to Kankuro's abdomen, only to have arms burst out and wrap around his leg.

Suddenly Kankuro's face started to peel off like ceramic, then Kankuro lifted his head and turned it completely around to reveal that the person Misumi was holding was not a person, but a marionette.

"A puppet? Then where is…." Kabuto said. Then he looked toward the bandages to see something moving and a hand popped out to remove it, revealing Kankuro.

"You're a puppet master." Kabuto said in disbelief.

Kankuro said, "That is correct and now I will think I will have to incapacitate you." Kankuro clenched his fist and the puppet crushed Kabuto's bones in his leg and making him scream out in pain before falling unconscious from the pain.

"Like I said, too easy." Kankuro said.

Hayate thought, _"That was a fast match."_

Kankuro walked back upstairs while the medics came and carried Kabuto away to the hospital. The board flashed once again as Naruto commented, "This exam has a bunch of interesting people here…" Kakashi replied, "You are one to talk, Naruto."

"Hehe, good one…" Sakura laughed lightly and then Kakashi said, "This is no time for laughing, Sakura…"

"Why?"

"Because you are fighting Ino…" Naruto said as he sat down Indian style, thumbing at the board. Ino and Sakura looked at the board in surprise and the two kunoichi walked down the stairs to stand in front of each other.

"**Match 4: **Sakura Haruno versus Ino Yamanaka…begin."

"Sakura…I never thought that I would be fighting you so soon…" Ino said, and then Sakura reached up to her headband and took it off. Naruto smirked as he thought, _"Looks like Sakura is getting serious, maybe this fight will be worth watching."_

"_She may not look like it, but Ino is exceptional among the kunoichi, but I wonder if she will be able to go all out against Sakura."_ Asuma thought to himself. Shikamaru said, "Those two? Looks like this will get annoying…"

"Is Ino going to be alright?" Choji asked.

The young Sarutobi thought, "_Yeah, Ino, what will you do?"_ Sakura said, "Right now, I have no intention of fighting over Sasuke-kun with you."

"What was that?"

"You and Sasuke-kun don't go together anyway and I am completely stronger than you right now, I don't need to be concerned with you."

"Sakura…who do you think you are talking to? Don't get ahead of yourself, cry-baby Sakura."

Naruto said with a raised eyebrow, "Sakura is taking this a little bit too far; Ino looked really pissed right now." Kakashi said, "Hmm, Sakura is the type to brag about her strength or hurt others willingly, the main guess is that she want Ino to take her seriously and don't show any mercy."

The Haruno thought as she stared into the pale blue eyes of Ino Yamanaka, _"Ino…I have always believe those words you told me, I always hoped they were true. I wanted to be like you, you were my goal and thanks to you, I am here. That's why, Ino, I want this to be an all out fight. Unless I really surpass you, it's meaningless…"_

"Okay, seriously, what is up with the seriousness between these two?" Naruto asked and Kakashi said, "It's a stand-off between the two of them, sort of like your rivalry with Sasuke…they are battling to see who is stronger and more worthy of winning Sasuke's heart."

Ino then smirked as she took her headband from her waist, _"I get it…Sakura, all out battle."_ They both tied their headband onto their forehead and Sakura started things off with a jutsu. _"Just a Bunshin no Jutsu."_ Ino thought.

The Yamanaka declared, "This is not the Academy Graduation Exam, you think that you can beat me with a textbook jutsu like that?!" Then she thought, _"If I just look closely, I can figure out which one is the real one?"_

Sakura smiled as she directed chakra to her feet and sped in front of Ino's widened eyes, causing Ino to lose track of her and get a punch in the face. "If you think that I am the same cry-baby Sakura, then you will be hurting. Get serious, Ino!"

"I'm glad you said that." Ino said as she wiped her cheek, "As you wish, here I come…"

"Hmph, looks like she is using that exercise we learned in Wave in spades. After all, she is the best one on our team when it comes to chakra control." Ishide commented. Lee gripped his fist as he thought, _"Beautiful movement, Sakura-san…"_

Sakura and Ino were struggling in a stand-still as Naruto said, "Although Sakura has gotten stronger with her stamina, Ino has been training as well…they look evenly matched and it is possible that they may beat themselves to a standstill."

"No way! Sakura-chan will win this!" Lee shouted.

"Sakura is at a disadvantage; she is against Ino, who has access to her clan jutsu, the Shintenshin no Jutsu. If she finds some way to trap her, she is done, but on the bright side, Sakura is quick and she can think on her feet almost as fast as you, Naruto." Kakashi said logically.

Ten minutes later, the two of them were still going at it and Ino shouted, "There is no way you could be even with me!" Sakura retorted hotly, "Heh, of course! How could I be even someone who worries about growing their hair and looking pretty?"

"You! You better stop disrespecting me!"

"Idiot! Letting that trash talk get to you, I don't know what she's gonna do." Shikamaru chided.

"I don't like that Ino…" Choji commented fearfully. Ino took her kunai and cut off her ponytail while Sakura chuckled, "Hehe, so simple…" The Yamanaka casted her hair to the floor and said, "I don't need this! I am going to end this right now, I will make you say 'Give up' from your very own mouth."

"That hand sign?!" Shikamaru stared at Ino in disbelief. Choji said, "It can't be…"

"I can sympathize with your desperation, but that is useless…" Sakura said.

"Bah, we will see about that." Ino replied.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu…a Jutsu known only to the Yamanaka clan by using your spiritual energy and projecting at an opponent, you can take control over their body for a few minutes, but the downside is that spiritual projection moves at a slow pace and if you miss, your body will be an inanimate doll for a few minutes, leaving you vulnerable."

"So what?! We won't know until we try!"

Suddenly there was silence in the air and Sakura moved to the side while Ino shouted, "**Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu!" **Both bodies stopped and their heads hung in the air as Shikamaru asked himself, "Which one?"

"Hehe, too bad…Ino." Sakura said, then the girl tried to move, but she looked down to see that she was caught in Ino's hair. "You fell for it, Sakura…it was all an act, this is a special rope using my hair and chakra. Now since you can't move at the moment, I will be ending this duel…**Ninpou: Shintenshin no Jutsu!**"

This time, Sakura's psyche was suppressed by Ino's own and Ino/Sakura raised her hand as she said, "I, Haruno Sakura, would like to…" Naruto suddenly shouted, "Sakura, remember what I taught you!" Ino looked at Naruto as she thought, _"He is so annoying…"_

"If you lose to that woman, we won't be able to defeat that man and you will never gain Sasuke's respect as a woman!" Naruto shouted and Sasuke said, "Come on, Sakura."

"_What is he smiling about? It is all useless…"_ Ino thought, and then she felt a shiver run down her spine. _"What? This sensation…."_

"_Geez, Naruto is so loud…but he is right, I can't lose here, there is too much at stake here."_

"_What? Sakura!? No way…" _Ino/Sakura thought as she clutched at her head. Hayate asked, "Hey, what's the matter? Do you want to forfeit or not?" Sakura took control as she shouted, "Like hell I'll forfeit!" The proctor thought, _"Which one is in control now?"_

Ino thought, _"No way?! My jutsu failed!" _Then the inner Sakura grabbed Ino and began to squeeze her, _"Ino, if you don't get the hell out of my body, I swear to Kami you will be sorry."_ Shikamaru then said, "Huh? What is wrong with Ino?"

Ino released the jutsu and the two opponents reanimated, breathing hard. "You have two minds, what are you?" Ino asked. Her rival replied, "Don't you know, women have to be tough to survive or they will not making out in the real world."

Soon the two got up once again for one last hit as they charged at each other, thinking, _"This is…the end!"_ At the last minute, Sakura ducked under Ino's punch and gave her a flying uppercut to the chin, causing the Yamanaka to fall to the floor, unconscious. Hayate waited for a moment for the blonde to get up and declared, "**Winner:** Sakura Haruno."

"_Looks like even Sakura has gotten a little stronger as well…many things have happened, but I am glad that I entered them in the Chunin Exams…"_ Kakashi thought to himself.

The board flashed to reveal the new fighters, who were Tenten and Temari, the Konoha girl smirked with confidence to be in the finals and she walked down the stairs to face Temari, who was wearing a confident smirk of her own on her face. "Are the contestants ready?"

Lee shouted, "Good luck, Tenten…"

Neji murmured, "Now…the second member of the Sand Team, this could be interesting."

Both of the kunoichis nodded in confirmation and Hayate chopped down his hand, "Now **Match 5:** Tenten versus Sabaku no Temari…begin."

Tenten and Temari both jumped back to get some distance between each other, the weapons mistress threw kunai at the wind mistress, but Temari gathered wind-natured chakra to block the kunai away from her.

Tenten said, "What? But that attack was right on target."

Naruto thought, _"She is using wind manipulation…bad matchup for Tenten. She has absolutely no chance in winning unless she has a fire jutsu. Since Gai never utilizes ninjutsu in respect of Lee, Tenten will lose this one."_

Temari unclasped her fan and opened it up to reveal a purple moon on the fan. "This is the first moon, girl. When you see all three, the match will be over."

Tenten gritted her teeth as she racked her brain, _"How is she doing that? She is not using any hand signs or nothing, but yet my attacks can get through."_

Tenten ran at Temari and threw kunai at all directions as she thought, "_This should work."_ But again the attack failed and Temari swung her fan to blow back Tenten and her weapons. "You are on the second moon, sister. Look, it's over, your weapons aren't effective against my style, which has been proven twice." Temari said.

Tenten unclasped the two scrolls on her hips and Lee said quietly, "Tenten….you are not thinking of using that technique, aren't you?"

Tenten thought, _"I have no choice, this move should be able to pierce that wind defense of hers….I can't lose here, there is someone that I want to fight here."_ Tenten placed the two scrolls apart from each other and bit her thumb, drawing blood. "Well, like they always say the third time is the charm! **Soshoryu!"** she shouted.

The two scrolls burst and twirled around Tenten, she flew up and levitated in the middle. She grabbed one of the scrolls in air and began to flip in around her until the scroll unfurled around her. Then she swiped her blood on the markings, making various weapons popped out in existence.

Then Tenten threw the weapons one by one at Temari, who swung her fan to make the weapons blow off course and stab or fall on the ground around her. Tenten smirked and brought her hands back to her body and to everyone's surprise, the weapons came back to her.

Kakashi thought, _"Very clever, she used wires to attack to the weapons….clever girl that Gai got."_

Temari said, "Sorry, today is not your day….you lose, princess." Temari swung her fan while shouting, **"Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"** The weapons were blown back once again and Tenten was trapped in a wind cyclone, where she was slashed up by invisible blades of wind.

Tenten fell to the ground and Temari let her fall onto her fan's blunt end. "No way…" Lee whispered and then Neji commented, "Tenten's weapon attacks…were rendered useless."

"How boring." Temari commented.

"What is up with her?" Naruto asked and Hiruzen thought, "_The genin from the Sand…are dangerous this year."_ Next, Temari smirked as Hayate declared her the winner and she moved to throw Tenten away, but Lee moved to catch her.

"Nice catch…" Temari said, but Lee didn't reply as he set Tenten down gingerly and then he glared at Temari, "If you ever do that to another opponent again, I swear…you will not be swinging that fan of yours once I am done ripping your arms apart."

Temari visibly flinched as she thought, _"Those eyes…there are just like Gaara's…" _The Sand girl scoffed and tried to play cool, but she slightly shivered as she felt those cold eyes on his back as she walked up the stairs.

Naruto thought, _"Whoa, Lee is pissed…that is a first."_

Then Hayate had several ninjas take Tenten's scrolls to seal back her weapons into them, then the board flashed to reveal the next fighters, which were Shikamaru Nara and Kin Tsuchi. The lazy genius sighed, "Me, huh?"

Soon the two opponents faced each other and Shikamaru commented, "Man, this sucks...plus it is tough fighting against a girl." Kin sneered as she said, "Then I will end it quickly…" Shikamaru's blond teammate cheered, "Don't lose, Shikamaru!"

"_She is sure cheerful…"_ Choji thought as he looked at her. Shikamaru thought as he stared at Kin, "Well, this is quite a predicament, I have no idea what her abilities are, but on the bright side, she doesn't know mine and I only have one jutsu."

"**Match 6:** Shikamaru Nara versus Kin Tsuchi." Hayate shouted, "You may begin!"

Shikamaru thought as he made the Rat seal, _"This is all I have…_ **Kagemane no Jutsu!**" His shadow grew and shot toward Kin, who dodged it as she thought, "_Whatever that jutsu does, I really don't want to know what he will do."_

"Damn it, **Kagemane no Jutsu…**"

Kin thought, "_He did it again, which possibly means that it is the only jutsu in his arsenal."_ She declared, "You are a one trick pony, aren't you? All I have to do is watch your shadow and I will have nothing to fear at all!"

She launched senbon at Shikamaru, who ducked under them and heard a sound from behind. He turned briefly to see that bells were attached to the end and he smirked, "That is an old trick. Next, you will throw one with a bell and the other without one, making me dodge the first one when I react to the sound and don't notice the second one...stab, right?"

Kin replied, "You sure like to talk!"

"This should be easy enough, just avoid the needles…" Suddenly the male ninja heard something behind him and he turned to see that there was string attached to the previous bells. "Crap, she was using the string to ring the bells."

"Too late!" Kin shouted as she threw her designated throwing weapons and Shikamaru fell to the ground as he was struck by it. "If I dodge your shadow, there is nothing that you can do! And now for the coup de grace…" The kunoichi said with a cruel smirk.

Suddenly her body struggled to move as she tried to figure out what was going on and Shikamaru got up with a grin on his face, "Kagemane no Jutsu success!"

"What are you talking about? I don't see your shadow anywhere?!"

"You haven't noticed yet?" Shikamaru said as he yanked out the senbon from his shoulder and arm.

"No way…"

"Exactly, idiot! A string at that height can't produce a shadow! I can lengthen, shrink and freely control my shadow though there is a limit."

"_Damn it!"_ She thought, _"The shadow is getting fatter and fatter, so this wasn't the shadow of the string."_

"Yup! I made my shadow really skinny to make it look like it was being cast by the string and attached it to you." Shikamaru said as he took out a shuriken from his holster, making Kin do the same and she shouted in protest, "Are you crazy?! Both of us are locked in the same movements, if you attack, you will get hurt too!"

"Tell me something I don't know…"

"You aren't…"

"We will keep throwing shurikens to see how long we can last!" Shikamaru said as he launched his throwing star. "You fool!" Kin said as she released her own. As the shuriken came closer and closer to their head, Kin thought, _"Bah! He is just bluffing…"_

She suddenly put her body in a back bend to have her head slammed into the wall and Shikamaru said, "Heh, one down…If you are a shinobi, then you should fight with the knowledge of your surroundings even if we move the same. The shuriken was just a ploy to keep you from noticing how close you were to the wall."

"Winner: Shikamaru Nara!" declared Hayate.

Kiba thought, _"Okay, the guys left are that other Sound Nin, me, Hinata, Naruto, Neji, Lee, Choji …oh, and that Sand guy. Please, but anyone but him…"_

Neji glanced over at Hinata, "This year's rookies will be fun to fight against…" Hayate said as the scoreboard flashed, "Now the next match…" It revealed the next two names, which were Naruto Uzumaki and Kiba Inuzuka.

"Hmph, my turn, eh? It is about time…" Naruto stated as he walked down to the arena.

"Haha, lucky! We can definitely beat him, Akamaru!" Kiba declared and his dog barked in agreement. "**Match 7:** Naruto Uzumaki versus Kiba Inuzuka…"


	10. The End of Prelims

_**Hektols- Congratulations on being the 200**__**th**__** reviewer of Naruto Upgraded**_

**Chapter 10- The End of Prelims**

Naruto walked down the stairs to reach Kiba and Akamaru. "I never thought that I would be facing you, Naruto. At least I will have a chance to show my full strength since we were restricted to our Academy taijutsu."

"You are forgetting something, Kiba…your partner, so I believe the correct term is we…and you are right, your clan's taijutsu works better with your partner…now let's see what you have accomplished over the past year."

Kiba smirked, **"Ninpou: Shikyaku no Jutsu!"** As the jutsu implied, Kiba went down on all fours as chakra wisps raised over his body. The Inuzuka charged at Naruto and the Jinchuuriki decided to take the blow to assess his strength.

"What's wrong, Naruto? Have you gotten slow over the months?" Kiba said in a cocky tone.

Naruto answered, "Actually it is quite the opposite…I was gauging the strength in your hits. Not bad, you made me bleed and I think you cracked a rib, now I believe that it is my move now." Kiba smirked, "C'mon, Akamaru, join in on the fun."

Akamaru barked and let out a predatory growl at Naruto, who said, "I just hope the animal police isn't watching this, I don't like hurting animals…and I hope you don't have rabies as well." Kiba and Akamaru charged at the blond while the Inuzuka threw a smoke bomb, but he failed to see Naruto smirk.

Akamaru attempted to bite Naruto on the shoulder , but the Jinchuuriki dodged and caught Akamaru by the scruff of his neck, then he held him up to his face and flicked him on the nose, "No, bad Akamaru, bad dog…no biting."

Akamaru barked at Naruto, who smiled, "Don't worry, after this, I will give you a treat…but for now, fight with all you got." He then tossed the dog to where he suspected Kiba was at and sent a kunai in the same area seconds after him.

Kiba caught Akamaru and narrowly avoided the kunai that he saw only to receive a kick to the face. "How the hell were you able to detect me? You couldn't see at all and Akamaru can't be detected by the best of ninja."

"That was before I trained with Zabuza Momochi, the Kirigakure no Kijin…he is a master of the art of silent killing, using the sounds and air displacement to detect his opponents. I guess I have to thank him for being such a sadistic teacher. Now it is my turn…"

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"** Five clones appeared and one of them went to engage Kiba while the rest of them went to the corners of the room. Kiba blocked the clone's high kick and then ducked under a punch, Akamaru moved in, but Naruto moved to the side and made one hand sign, **"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" **

A clone appeared out of nowhere and Sakura said in surprise, "He can make Kage Bunshin using only one hand seal?! Since when? He never showed that back in the forest!" Sasuke said, "He didn't have time to, remember?"

Kakashi commented, "It proves that he has fully mastered Kage Bunshin completely, you can possibly do it with high caliber jutsu. For example, the Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu, the one that Zabuza and I used in our first encounter requires forty-four hand signs, but the Nidaime Hokage trained enough that he could summon it with one hand sign."

"No way! I knew that Naruto was good, but this good…"Ino commented.

"You haven't been paying attention to him after you started to focus on Sasuke. Naruto would always keep quiet in class, then after it was over." Shikamaru stated lazily. Ino thought, _"Looks like I will be taking your offer then, Naruto. When I have the chance to fight Sakura again, I will make sure that I am the victor with your help, of course."_

"That's it, time to get serious!" Kiba shouted as he gave Akamaru and himself a soldier pill. Then the small puppy's fur turned red and viciously destroyed Naruto's clone. **"Ninpo: Jujin Bunshin no Jutsu!"** Kiba shouted as Akamaru was engulfed in a puff of smoke to reveal a second Kiba and both of them had a feral look in their eyes.

Naruto smirked as he cracked his knuckles, "Well, this has gotten interesting…but it looks like I am ready now. GO!" His clones in the corners shouted, **"Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!"** The four clones began to spit out water, flooding the arena and Kiba shouted, "No, you don't! **Gatsuuga!**"

The two spun around into a speeding drill made of fangs and claws, then crashed into the clones, stopping them from spitting out more water. Meanwhile the real Naruto was in his set of hand signs and Kiba sprang at him just as Naruto finished, **"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"**

The water sprang up to turn into a dragon and sent itself at Kiba and Akamaru, who jumped over it only to meet Naruto. The boy punched the Inuzuka in the face and kicked Akamaru aside into the dragon's maw, causing them to slam into the wall, unconscious.

"**Winner:** Naruto Uzumaki."

"Wow, that kid has got some skills." Kankuro voiced a bit and Gaara had a large psychotic smile on his face, "Yes, Mother, he will be a great challenge…I will kill him to prove my existence. Uzumaki Naruto…" Hayate said, "Now the sixth match…"

The screen flashed through names randomly until it stopped on two particular names…Neji Hyuga and Hinata Hyuga. "Shit…" Kurenai cursed lowly, "Of all of the people here, why did it have to be him to face Hinata."

Hinata herself was in shock, but a firm hand clasped her shoulder, she looked at it to see that it belonged to Naruto, "Hinata…you have trained hard to master the Gentle Fist, to be strong as your father, but as kind as your mother."

"But what if I can't…"

"What have I told you about doubting yourself? If you doubt yourself even for an instant, you will lose the match and the work that you accomplished. You can do this, Hinata…Neji is powerful, but he isn't your father…don't be afraid of him and grasp victory with your new style."

Hinata looked at the ground for a bit and then said, "Naruto-kun…thank you."

"I will be watching you, Hinata…the real and improved you; I will be cheering you on every step of the way." Hinata nodded and walked down to the arena with her head held high while Kurenai glared at him as she left.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed.

"Something that you and her father should have done…encourage her. When she failed, her father ridiculed her with verbal lashing and disappointing looks. When she messed up, you took her from the ground and put her on your shoulders instead of letting her learn how to walk. She needs this or else she won't be able to grow." Naruto looked at the ruby-eyed woman with cold eyes, "So I suggest that you, Kurenai-san, to stand straight and kindly shut up. Hinata is not a child, she is a kunoichi…"

Hayate said, "Begin!"

Neji looked at her cousin, "Before we begin, Hinata-sama, I have a few words to say."

"Speak your piece, cousin."

Neji raised an eyebrow at the firm tone, but shook it off and said, "Hinata-sama, I believe that you are not cut out to be a ninja. You are too soft and shy, I bet that you joined because you didn't want to be pressured by your teammates. I think it would be best if you stayed as a genin, you are nothing, but a spoiled brat….people can't change themselves. Losers are losers, their personality and strength will not change, thus judged by their looks, personality, size, ability and values, they also discriminate each other and discriminate against, then suffer with their own means just like the fact that I'm in the Branch House and you are in the Main House."

Hinata sighed as she had heard this speech before and asked, "Are you finished now, Neji?"

"Not quite, my eyes can see everything…I see that you are scared of me, which means that you fate is sealed, you will lose to me, I am giving you the chance to back out now."

Hinata said, "Since you said your piece, I will say mine. I never thought that I would be facing you so soon as well, I joined the Chunin Exam on my own free will with my teammates as my alibi and people can change themselves. For example, yourself…you used to be the happy boy in the Branch House that still needed that nightlight until you were seven."

Some of the Genin snickered as Neji's face burned red and Hinata continued, "But now you are the strongest prodigy in the Branch House. Me…I used to be timid and shy just like you said, but through the help of a friend, I have become more confident and outspoken, standing before you. Some of us have seen horrors on missions and changed for better or worse. Furthermore, you are a hypocrite to your own words of fate…"

"What?!"

"Did I stutter? I think not, I said you are a hypocrite because to me, it looks like you are trying to defy your own fate by training so hard, but you will never become the heir of the Hyuga clan."

Neji's eyes flashed in anger, resulting in his Byakugan activating, "Enough talk!"

"Exactly what I was thinking…"

Neji charged at his cousin, who stood stock still and the male Hyuga sent out a open palm strike, but Hinata twisted to the side and jabbed at a place in his arm. Immediately Neji's arm went limp and he thought to himself, _"What? That was not the Gentle Fist at all, but yet my arm is numb."_

Hinata moved into her Juken stance, but if you look at her hand closely, her pointer fingers was crossed in front of her middle fingers and she began to move her arms in a fluid motion. Neji attacked Hinata ferociously, but Hinata kept fleeting around like a feather in a circle.

"_Baquazhang, the Empty Hand…"_ Naruto thought.

Neji aimed his hand at her head, but her arm caught the offending appendage and she moved it to the side while she retaliated with hard Gentle Fist powered strikes to his body. "Neji is being defeated?! But how? Not even I could defeat him at all even with my weights off." Lee said in awe.

Sakura whispered, "Naruto…"

Kakashi heard her and asked, "What about Naruto?"

"If you look over at him, he is smiling like he is applauding her skills. He must have been helping her train, which explains her newfound confidence and loss of her stutter, he is also the one who helped me with my training before as well. Without it, I would have probably tied with Ino in our match."

Neji finally got back the feeling in his arm and was able to properly defend himself from Hinata's attacks, forcing the female Hyuga to jump back for a second to move into a different stance. "Goju-Ryu already? She is getting serious now…" Naruto voiced.

"D-Did you j-just say Goju-Ryu?" Gai asked in surprise.

"Yes…is there a problem, Gai-sensei?"

"That style is very old, dating back to the old world. I am just wondering how do you know it?"

"Is that right? When I was eight, I saw an old man do weird movements on a makeshift sparring pole. I followed the movements to the best of my ability, but it felt like it was not the right style for me. Hinata is extremely flexible and it will serve her very well."

Gai thought to himself as he looked at Naruto, _"The last time that I have ever heard of Goju-Ryu Karate was back during the Third Great Shinobi War and he was killed by myself. He said that he had no children…but how did Naruto know about it?"_

Hinata blocked Neji's strike and moved to sweep him off of his feet, but the male Hyuga jumped back to grimace, _"This style…is the Gentle Fist, but it is not at the same time. Just what the hell has she been doing? Who has she been training with?"_ Neji thought, _"Am I…Am I being defeated?"_

Then he shook his head, "No, this is all just a fluke. Fate will declare me as the winner, I will not be denied!" Neji sprang at Hinata with an outstretched palm, but Hinata ducked and sent a hard fist to Neji's gut, making the boy fall back a bit, which allowed Hinata to execute a 'gentle' bitch slap.

Naruto winced as he closed one eye, "Ooh, that had to hurt…"

"Are you done messing around, Neji-niisan. You can't win like this…"

"You are right…fate has decreed me…"

"Oh, spare the fate speech please, that is getting old fairly quickly for six years." Hinata said as she moved into Neji's guard to plant two punches to her cousin's chest, then slipped into a familiar stance, **"Hakke: Sanjuni Sho!"**

"**Ni Sho!"**

"**Yon Sho!"**

"**Hachi Sho!"**

"**Juuroku Sho!"**

"**Sanjuni Sho!"**

Neji was blasted back into the wall and coughed up a bit of blood before he fell to the ground, face forward. Hinata moved in front of Neji's head, poised to end his life with her chakra-laced hand. _"It…looks like I am fated to die. I am coming…father."_ Neji thought.

Hinata's hand moved downwards to slam beside his head and Neji asked in surprise, "W-Why?"

"To show you that fate was not in control. I have every right to kill you, Neji, for your cruelty against me over the years and your fate was in the palm of my hands. I defied that fate of your death by choosing to let you live. Fate only controls our lives until we have the resolve to fight it for a better one. Our clan has been torn asunder by the accursed seal that is imprinted on your forehead, but when I become clan head, I will rectify it by abolishing, using a counter seal or even providing the same concept for the seal without the death penalty embedded in it…but I can't do this if my own family is not united as well. So will you help me…Neji?"

Neji closed his eyes for a moment and said, "I will…Hinata-sama…"

"Call me that at home, here…we are equals and we remain as such."

"Winner: Hinata Hyuga…" Hayate shouted.

"_I am surprised at her; she has mastered the basics of all of those styles in the span of two months. Hiashi literally screwed himself over by ridiculing her instead of finding an alternative way to use the Gentle Fist."_ Naruto thought with a smile.

Hinata came up back to her team and the Jinchuuriki said, "Congrats, Hinata…you are halfway close to attaining your dream. Your mother would be proud of you…"

"Thank you, Naruto-kun…"

He nodded and went over to his team only to have his sensitive ears hurting as Lee practically shouted out in joy since it was finally his turn to fight. _"Gaara is his opponent, this is bad….not only Gaara is a Jinchuuriki, but his bloodlust is very high."_ He thought to himself.

"Alright, Lee, go do it!" Gai shouted and Lee jumped over the railing as he shouted, "YES!" He dropped down in front of Gaara and said, "To be able to face you this early, I couldn't be happier!" Gaara said nothing.

Suddenly something flew toward Lee and he caught it in his hand, "No need to get impatient." Hayate smirked as he said, "Now **Match 10:** Rock Lee versus Gaara of the Sand will commence…begin!" Gai thought as he looked at his student, _"Lee…be careful."_

Temari thought, _"His speed is good, but that is not enough to defeat Gaara at all."_ Lee moved forward as he shouted, **"Konoha Senpuu!"** Gaara's gourd spewed out sand and blocked his kick, making Lee think, _"Sand?"_

The sand came toward Lee's blind spot and knocked him away. Naruto thought, _"So Gaara controls sand, interesting."_ Kakashi thought, _"What a strange technique…"_ Lee jumped up and thought, _"Damn!"_ He made another attempt to hit Gaara, but the sand kept on moving in his way.

Finally Lee jumped back as he panted, _"Damn it and he isn't even moving an inch at all!" _Sakura said, "Lee's fast attacks and movements aren't having any effects on that sand." Naruto muttered, "The attacks aren't working…"

"All physical attacks are rendered useless against him. Regardless of Gaara's will, the sand will always protect him and that is the reason why nobody has ever been able to put a single scratch on Gaara." Kankuro declared. Then Sakura asked, "Why is Lee using only taijutsu, close combat is useless in this battle, he should realize that using ninjutsu or genjutsu at a distance would be better."

Gai replied, "The reason that he doesn't use them is because he can't use them. Lee has almost no skill in ninjutsu or genjutsu." Sakura shouted, "What?! No way! Then how did he get so far?!" The eccentric Jonin replied, "When I first met Lee, he was pathetic…he had nothing at all. So the only techniques that he has as a ninja are taijutsu, there aren't many ninjas who can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. That is why he can win!"

Lee jumped back as the sand rushed to attack him and the taijutsu user landed on top of the hand sign statue. Gai shouted, "Lee, take them off!" Lee looked at him and replied, "But Gai-sensei, you said only to take them off when I must protect my friends."

Gai said, "It is okay, I will allow it this time." Lee grinned back and took off his orange leg warmers to reveal his weights, which had the kanji of guts on each of them. "Now I can move easier." Temari thought to herself, _"Pft…there is no way…taking off a little weight will let him keep up with Gaara's sand."_ Kankuro said, "This is so stupid!"

Naruto asked curiously, "Tell me something, Gai-sensei, how much weight does Lee wears on his legs?"

"The answer to that...is 300 pounds on each leg."

Just as Gai answered Naruto's question, everyone jerked their heads back to the explosion, which was caused by Lee dropping his weights to the ground. Kakashi thought to himself as he face palmed, "_Isn't that a bit much, Gai…"_

Gai said, "Lee, go!" Lee smirked and complied with his sensei's order, he disappeared only to suddenly reappear behind Gaara and his sand reacted to block his punch, which was very close, making Gaara's eyes widen a bit. Then Lee moved to a different location each time time his attacks were getting through. "Over here!" Lee said.

"_Fast…"_ Kakashi thought.

"_So close…"_ Sakura thought.

"He can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, which is why he spent all of his time on taijutsu; he worked hard and concentrated everything on taijutsu. Even if he can't do any jutsu, he won't lose to anyone. He is a taijutsu specialist…"

Gaara looked at Lee, who feinted and jumped in the air in a tight roll. Then the taijutsu specialist swung his legs down to hit Gaara's head. Gaara looked up and a huge scratch appeared on his cheek. Gai smiled, "Lee won't lose to anyone in terms of speed, this kid is strong…"

Lee said, "Now we are just getting started."

Gai cheered, "Lee, explode!"

"Hai!" Lee shouted as he went behind Gaara, making him look behind him…it was a bad mistake as Lee came in the front to say, "Over here…" As Gaara turned back, he was launched away with a punch to the cheek. "Incredible! So fast!" Sakura commented, "The sand can't keep up at all to block a major blow!"

Lee stared at Gaara as he took his stance, _"He definitely felt that one…"_ Gaara got up groggily while Shikamaru commented, "Wow…" Choji piped up, "His attacks are so fast my eyes can barely keep up with them." Kankuro commented, "This is bad…"

Naruto replied, "It sure is bad, Gaara took a heavy one…"

"That is not what I was talking about…"

Pieces of hardened sand fell from Gaara's face and Lee looked at the insane look on Gaara's face and got scared a bit at Gaara's demented smile, "Wha…" Kakashi thought, _"Sand covering his entire body, so he is basically unscathed."_

Sakura thought to herself in fear, _"W-What is he?" _

Meanwhile, Naruto said, "Huh? What is this? Is that armor made from his sand?" Kankuro said, "Yes…" Then he thought to himself, _"So he did have it covering him, but it has been a long time since I seen this side of Gaara. He is usually calm and collected without emotion, but I had felt that during this exam, he has been slowly losing control. The other Gaara is completely awake."_

The puppet master said, "If he gets caught by this Gaara…he will be killed for the fun of it." Naruto said, "So the armor of sand took the brunt of Lee's attacks all this time? Something tells me that he doesn't do that move often, does he?"

"_Exactly…the Suna no Yoroi is a hint that he has a weakness because he only uses that technique when he is in a pinch and since it is not automatic, it uses up a lot of his chakra and it doesn't protect him as well as his Suna no Tate. Plus his body is a lot heavier on him using up his stamina, the fact that Gaara has to resort to this tactic means that he is in a bad defensive position. This Lee guy is impressive, but this match is over…because Gaara is a genius."_ Kankuro thought to himself as the sand covered Gaara to reform the Suna no Yoroi.

"Is that all?" Gaara said to Lee, who thought, "His defense is impeccable, with that sand armor covering his entire body, my attacks are meaningless. I have no choice, but to deal some severe damage from above the sand protection…the Lotus."

"_Now…what will he do?"_ Temari thought and Sakura looked on with worry, then Lee looked up at his sensei, who smiled at him and nodded, knowing fully what he was going to do as he thought, _"The Lotus technique smashes down at a high speed. Against that, the thin layer of sand is useless." _

He unwrapped his bandages a bit and ran around Gaara in circles as he thought, _"But with that sand increasing his weight, it will be a lot harder to kick him up…then I will have to."_

Gaara said, "Hurry up and come."

Lee replied, "As you wish…" The Genin launched Gaara up in the air with the same beginning kick to his move and then he shouted, "It is not over yet…." The boy repeatedly kicked Gaara up in the air and from the pain his eyes closed briefly. Gai started to pray as he thought, _"Even the Omote Renge is self-damaging, all of these extra kicks are dangerous for Lee too…please, Lee, you have to end this here!"_

Lee shouted as he wrapped him in his bandages, "Take this! **Omote Renge!**" The two spun at a high rate toward the ground and Gaara smashed into the ground headfirst while Lee jumped away at the last second.

"Is Gaara actually done for?" Naruto said and Kankuro replied, "Hey…no way!"

Sakura shouted, "Lee won!"

Gai pumped his fist with a grin, "Yes!" But the cheer was short-lived as Lee gasped as he saw that Gaara was actually a shell of sand. "But when did he leave the sand?! There is no way that Lee would have missed that!" Gai shouted in surprise.

Kakashi answered, "It was the moment when Lee stopped his kicks because of the pain and also the same time you close your eyes to pray. He took the opportunity to switch at that time." Kankuro thought in horror, _"He has completely awakened!"_

Gaara appeared behind Lee, laughing, "Hehehehe…" Gaara ordered the sand to smash at Lee, the taijutsu specialist desperately tried to get away, but his legs burned with pain and he was flung backwards into the wall, then another wave came in, making Lee raise his arms in defense.

"_Looks like Bowlhead has run out of steam, Gaara is just playing with him now."_ Kankuro thought. Sakura asked, "Why didn't Lee dodge it?" Kakashi said, "That technique practically tears at the muscle since it uses high speed movement. Right now, after using so many kicks to make Gaara rise up in the air, he could barely move an inch."

Lee was flung around like a rag doll and Sakura said, "At this rate, Lee will…" Lee glanced at Gai to see his smiling face and thought as a tear appeared in his eye, _"Thank you, Gai-sensei…" _Suddenly the sand came at Lee once more and Sakura shouted, "Lee, no! Anymore and you'll die!"

This time, Lee dodged the attack and Naruto thought, "His speed has returned?!" Lee got up slowly as he thought, _"Sensei is watching and smiling, just from that, I am revived…stronger, even stronger."_ Sakura commented, "Lee is smiling, even though he is getting pushed around."

"No, now the tables have turned." Gai said and Sakura looked at him in confusion. He turned to her and stated, "The Lotus of the Leaf blooms twice." Gaara said, "You are finished here." Lee replied with a smirk, "Either way…this will end it."

Kakashi thought for a moment and then said in shock, "No way! Gai, you didn't…"

Gai answered, "It's exactly what you think…"

"The Hachimon no Tonkou…that kid will…"

"Yeah, he will open them."

Kakashi looked at Lee and thought to himself, _"It can't be…"_ Gai said, "He had the ability."

His silver-haired colleague replied, "Even if he had the ability…such a dangerous technique like that. The Ura Renge is one technique that shouldn't be taught to a Genin." Neji thought, _"Ura Renge?"_ Kakashi continued his rant, "I have no interest in asking how much Lee means to you, but there are limits…I have lost respect for you, Gai."

"What would you know about that boy? Lee has a precious thing that he would give up his life to prove; I just made him the man to accomplish that dream."

Lee closed his eyes and paused for a second, making Gaara wonder what he was doing. Kakashi thought, _"So that extreme recovery was because he opened the Heal Gate, the Kyumon."_ Then he asked, "How many gates just can he open?"

"Five gates…"

Kakashi's lone eye widened in shock as he turned back to look at Lee and thought, _"This isn't about hard work, that kid…he's a genius." _Sakura piped up_, "W-What is all this about? What are the Eight Gates?" _Gai explained, "It is a limit removal of some sort in preparation to use the Ura Renge."

"Limit removal?"

Kakashi took over as he revealed his Sharingan, "Yes…there are eight spots where the flow of chakra goes through. In order, the Initial Gate, Heal Gate, Life Gate, Harm, Limit Gate, View Gate, Wonder Gate and Death Gate. The gates are working continuously to limit the flow of chakra, when the Lotus forcibly opened them and releases a lot of power, but at the same time it destroys the body. For example, the Omote Renge opens the Initial Gate."

"Then the Ura Renge is…" Sakura said in shock.

"You release the brain's restraints by opening the Initial Gate and then with the Heal Gate, you forcibly raise your stamina. From the third, the Life Gate and up, you enter into the Ura Renge." Gai said in a serious tone.

"No way…even the Omote Renge damages his body so much. Anymore and he will…"

"Yes, it is a double-edged technique. If you open all of them, you could attain the strength beyond even a Kage, but in the end….you will die." Kakashi said gravelly. Lee thought, _"Neji...Sasuke... and Naruto. I can't be the only one who loses here, Gai-sensei acknowledges me…this is the time to protect and maintain my own ninja way!"_

Lee shouted, **"Seimon! KAI!"** Lee was surrounded by dark green chakra and his hair stood up while his skin turned red with veins popping out. Kakashi thought, _"He has opened the third Gate, here he goes!"_ **"Shomon! KAI!" **Lee shouted as he crouched down and blood appeared from his nose. _"What a guy…" _Kakashi thought.

Then Lee crouched down and shot forward, he kicked the Jinchuuriki up in the air and Gaara was flung upwards in the air. The rocks that were uprooted were tossed at the spectators, making some of them cover their faces.

"_Fast!"_ Kakashi thought and Kankuro looked frantically for his younger brother, "Gaara?!" Naruto shouted, "Where are they?" Shikamaru looked up to see Gaara in the air from the smoke, "Above us!" Choji asked, "But where is that Lee guy? I can't see him."

Sakura thought, _"The sand isn't keeping up with him at all."_

Soon Lee began to use Gaara's body as a pinball and Gaara thought as he saw that his armor was peeling off, _"What? My Suna no Yoroi…is being ripped off!"_ Lee thought, _"Still with that armor, huh? Then I' ll…"_

Kakashi thought, _"His muscles just snapped…anymore and…"_

Neji thought in shock, _"This is Lee? Since when did he?"_ Lee shouted, "This is the end! **TOMON! KAI!**"

Gaara thought, _"I can't protect myself…this is human speed?"_

As Lee charged at Gaara, he looked briefly at Neji, _"Neji…this technique was supposed to be used to defeat you…but I will show it now!" _He slammed into Gaara and the boy fell to the ground only to be suspended in the air because Lee's bandage was around his waist. Lee pulled him back up and sent a leg and fist into Gaara as he shouted, "And now for the finishing touch….**Ura Renge!**"

As Gaara fell, his gourd turned into sand, so it could cushion the fall and Lee fell to the ground, rolling away from Gaara a few feet. Suddenly Gaara stretched out his hand and the sand caught his left leg and arm, **"Sabaku Kyu…"**

Lee screamed in pain as his arm and leg crushed into oblivion, then he fell to the ground as the rest of the sand tried to cover his body, but Gai came in to stop it and Gaara asked, "Why did you save…"

"Because…he is my beloved comrade."

Gaara got up and rematerialized his gourd as he took control of himself, "That is enough…"

Hayate said, "**Winner:** Sabaku no Gaara."

Everyone gasped to see that Lee stood on his feet and Gai looked at Lee. He grabbed him by the shoulders, "Lee, that is enough, you shouldn't be even standing with that body…" He paused for a second and began to cry, "Oh, Lee…you…what a guy you are."

"_Even after losing consciousness, you are still striving to prove your ninja way. Lee…you already are …a great ninja."_ Gai thought as he hugged him. Hayate said, "Bring a medical team here…"

"Now for the last match, will the contenders please come down?" Hayate said. Dosu said to himself, "I never thought that I would be last…" Then he thought, _"At any rate, I will have to win to face Sasuke in the finals. Orochimaru-sama, I will not fulfill your wishes…I now realize what your plans are, the way you went ahead to find Sasuke and give him your Curse Seal instead of killing him. In other words, we were your pawns to test Sasuke's true strength, what you want is not his life, but Sasuke himself."_

Dosu leaped over the railing as he said, "I am really being taken quite lightly." He landed in front of Choji and Hayate said, "Umm, well then, **Match 11:** Choji Akimichi versus Dosu Kinuta….fight!" Shikamaru cheered, "You can do it!"

Ino cupped her hands over her mouth, "Fatass!" Choji looked at her in anger, "T-Those guys better watch it! I will win this match quickly and then tear them apart!" Dosu said, "Well, then I guess I will skip the playing and end it quickly for you, fatty!"

"_You mummified freak!"_ Choji thought in anger, _"I already know what your weak point is. You release destructive sound waves from the holes in your gauntlet so…"_ Choji shouted, **"Ninpou: Baika no Jutsu!"**

His body expanded like a balloon and finished his thought, "All I have to do is hide my ears." Then he begin to spin, "I am not fat, I am pleasantly plump! **Nikudan Sensha!**" Ino shouted, "Alright, Choji, crush him!"

Shikamaru thought with a smirk, _"From what Naruto said, his attacks can damage his opponent without even touching them, but only if the eyes are exposed or unclogged. How will he use a sound attack when his opponent's head is buried within all of that flesh and using earplugs as well? Plus Choji is practically a constantly spinning meatball."_

Dosu moved toward the wall and jumped at the last second as Choji slammed into the wall. The Sound Nin thought to himself, _"Here we go…to get out of that, you will have to spin in the opposite direction, which means that you have to stop spinning all at once. That's where I strike!"_

He slammed his gauntlet into Choji's tub of flesh and the Akimichi replied, "It is no use, I have my earplugs." Dosu smiled, "Nope, you are still done for…" He flicked the gauntlet, causing the sound waves to enter Choji's body.

"You see, 70% of the human body carries water and water conduct sound, making it easier to transmit my sound waves through your walls of flesh. The difficult part was to get you to stop spinning, so I could guess where your head was and attack." Dosu said.

"Winner: Dosu Kinuta!"

"_Orochimaru…I will show you that I am no guinea pig!"_ Dosu thought as he gripped his fist. Then all of the contestants that passed the prelims were made to stand in the destroyed arena in front of Anko, Ibiki and Hayate as well as the Hokage.

The finalist drew numbers to see who was facing off against whom. Naruto was against Dosu, Sakura against Hinata, Sasuke against Gaara, Shikamaru against Temari and Kankuro against Shino.

"_So I am against that guy who uses that sound amplifier gauntlet…I have to figure out a way to destroy that thing without making a sound and prevent my ears from being damaged, probably headphones would work."_ Naruto thought, _"This should be fun…"_

Immediately the Jinchuuriki set to work, training in long range attacks as well as upgrading his gloves. The consecutive blasts were stronger and better, the time of recharge was reduced from fifteen minutes to seven minutes.

Serenity notified Naruto about the stronger flame that Naruto used against Zabuza and with mostly her help, Naruto was able to use it only with his right hand. With it, he sought to make a new move by combining the 'soft' flame and the 'hard' flame into a torrent of flames much like a pipe, but he had a problem with stabilizing both at the same time.

Serenity came up with the idea of her monitoring the hard flame while Naruto focused on the soft flame since he was more experienced with it. Next, he focused a bit more on his kenjutsu training to fight and control the special ability of Kitami.

According to Zabuza, it was a backup to the original swords, Kitami possessed the power of wind and bloodlust, it could fire powerful bursts of air and create blades of wind for long-range attacks. When the gem of the sword lights up and Naruto is angry, it puts him into a destructive rage until the energy is drained from the jewel, which took Naruto about a half an hour to get rid of.

Slowly, the hold was weakened to only ten minutes of rage and Naruto had planned to use it against his enemies in a clear place. After, if he could master and harness his bloodlust, then he could control the Kyuubi's chakra much better than he could at the Land of Waves.

Partially, Kitami tapped into the Kyuubi's chakra to amplify the bloodlust, which the blond ninja dubbed it as the Bloodwrath. After a long day of training, he went to the hot springs to relax until he heard a perverted giggle.

As he travelled to the women's side, the giggles grew a bit higher and and the blond whispered, "Jiraiya, the Gama Sennin and the Yondaime's teacher…most importantly, my so-called godfather." Naruto's face twisted into a sadistic smirk and his hard flame activated.

He launched it at the old man, who quickly jumped away. "What the hell is your problem, kid? You really need to respect your elders." Jiraiya said.

"I do it in my own way except when it comes to certain people, like you, godfather…"

Jiraiya's face lost its smile and grew a bit serious and shocked, "How did you…"

"Let's see now…it helps with the fact that I look like your former student, the Yondaime and it is logical for him to entrust his child to someone that he looked up to as a father, it would be fitting for my father's sensei to be the one person to take care of me. Care to give me an explanation of your incompetence when it comes to children?"

Jiraiya immediately spat out, "I had to perform my spy duties for Konoha…"

"Although that is a perfect excuse, you would have to relay the updated information in person just in case someone intercepts the message. If you were serious about your duties, you wouldn't be indulging in searching for that filth you call literature."

Jiraiya stammered, "I…"

"You what? Admit it, Jiraiya, you couldn't bear to look at me because I look like your student and on top of that, I hold the bastard that caused him to sacrifice this god-forsaken village."

"You know about the Nine Tails?!"

"Yes, it is not awfully hard when you have drunk villagers trying to kill you all the while, shouting 'Demon'. The only demon that has been associated with Konoha was the Kyuubi no Kitsune, don't try to change the subject either…"

Jiraiya said sadly, "You are right, Naruto…I didn't even look at you because you looked like Minato so much, I felt that sensei could take care of you…I was too much in grief to do anything right, so I figured that since my books were a hit, I would send some of the money to you and when you became a ninja, I would train you. I know sorry is not going to cut it and show you how sorry I am, but I am begging you to please forgive me…"

The Toad Sannin bowed lowly before Naruto's feet and the Jinchuuriki said, "I have endured six years of abuse, ridicule and loneliness. I don't know that I will ever be able to forgive you at all…but I will give you a second chance and the first step is to train me for the exams, you will teach me everything you know, got it?"

Jiraiya got up and nodded silently while Naruto turned and left, "Tomorrow, we will start with a chakra control exercise and some jutsu, we will meet here at the same time since you are being tested on your resistance to naked women in the vicinity. This is going to prove your resolve and the chance of me forgiving you as well…don't make me lose faith in you, Jiraiya-san."

With that, Naruto walked away and Jiraiya thought to himself, _"That reminds me of the time Minato chewed me out when I yelled out at Kushina for endangering her teammates on that mission. To tell you the truth, he was much more intimidating than her. I will make it up to you, Naruto, I promise…"_

The next day, Naruto found Jiraiya at the hot springs ready to go to work. The two set on working chakra control by performing the water walking exercise. Although it was a bit similar to the tree walking exercise, it took Naruto a while to get the right amount since he had to emit a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of his feet and using the repellent force to walk across the water's surface.

Next, they practiced fighting on the water and lastly, a jutsu, specifically Hari Jizo and Kuchiyose. Jiraiya was surprised to see that Naruto was able to summon a toad on his first try, so in hindsight, they relocated to the forest and on Naruto's twentieth try, he was able to summon the chief toad, Gamabunta.

At first, the chief toad didn't believe him, but Naruto uses logic and facts to persuade Gamabunta to his way of thinking. For two weeks, Naruto learned Jiraiya's personal taijutsu, Doton: Yomi Numa, Katon: Gamayu Endan, Katon: Endan and some intermediate fuinjutsu.

He also increased his weights from fifty pounds to seventy to get the maximum workout on his arms and legs. One day, the Jinchuuriki went into the Heaven's Earth shop to re-supply on his weapons and was praying that her uncle was there.

He walked into the shop and immediately Tenten came out to serve the customer, when she realized that it was Naruto, she quickly took a sword from the rack and threw at the door, pinning it from opening and the seals within the shop prevented any shinobi from using any sort of escape jutsu.

"I finally caught you, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Tenten-san, for your own good, it is best to let me go and don't force me into a corner. I came here on business only, not to satisfy your curiosity."

"I just want to understand you, Uzumaki. You have Kitami, one of the backup swords and you hardly ever use it, it is like you are desecrating the name of Kazuma Murama despite how bloodthirsty he was."

With that last word out of her mouth, Tenten was slammed into the wall, making several weapons clatter to the floor with a kunai to her neck. "You want the truth? Fine…here is it, I met him as a blacksmith on my C-Rank mission. That man was like the father I never had and he went down, fighting off a group of bandits all the while knowing that he was going to die either by his disease that deteriorated his muscles. He died protecting his wife and child. I never killed him, I cried for his death as his life slowly ebbed away."

Tears filled his eyes as he continued, "Then I found the bastards who were responsible for the attack and you want to know what I did to them all? I killed them, no….not kill, I slaughtered, butchered them all of the henchmen of the one who ordered the hit on Takeshi Murama and his family…and the leader, well, let's leave it at that I made sure he suffered before he died."

He released Tenten, who was still in a bit of a shock and unconsciously rubbed her neck, "So now you know why I don't boast about killing him or even talking about him, he entrusted Kitami to me as well as all the weapons he had made in his shop."

Tenten whispered, "I'm sorry…I…" Then she fell silent and said, "Take anything you want, Naruto-san…I need some time to think for a better apology for you." The Jinchuuriki understood and took his weapons, then went to put the money up until the kunoichi stopped him, "No…I will pay for it and tell my uncle why, I have to be responsible for my own actions. It was painful to tell that story of yours; I was too stubborn and let my curiosity get the best of me to see that. Good luck in your match…"

She bent down to clean up the mess and Naruto looked at her for a moment, and then moved to touch her, but he withdrew and left the place, letting Tenten wallow in her self-pity. _"Perhaps I was a bit too harsh for her…"_

"No, you were right to do what you did, but I suggest that you let up on the physical harm and you will need to see her after this is over."

"Yeah…I do." Naruto said sadly.


	11. Apology Date and Chunin Finals

**Chapter 11-Apology Date and Chunin Finals**

After the incident with Tenten, Naruto's mind constantly floated back to her and her forlorn look on her face and after four days of avoiding her and contemplating with himself over what he should do, he finally had enough and decided to visit her.

He walked inside the Heaven's Earth shop to find her uncle doing inspection. "Ah, Naruto-san, come for more business?" the man asked. The Jinchuuriki replied, "No, actually this time, it is personal, do you know where I may find Tenten?"

The shop owner's face grew grim, "If it is about the sword, she has told me of the matter and subjugated herself to cleaning the weapons and making them for the week in the back."

"I know, but I want to talk to her. When I left, she was beating herself up already…and frankly how I handled the situation, I need to apologize as well."

The man nodded and pointed a thumb at the flap, "Go through here and she should be on your second left." Naruto went through the back and took his second left as the man instructed him to do. Truth to his word, Tenten was sitting on a stool, cleaning diligently and quietly.

He silently walked up to her and she said, "I'm done with making the weapons in the blacksmith for today, uncle and I'm almost finished with sharpening the dull weapons." Naruto chuckled, "I am afraid that I am not your uncle, Tenten-san."

She whirled around to see Naruto, "Naruto-san? What are you doing here?"

"To see you…I'm sorry for how all of this turned out, you were merely being curious and I didn't really want to let him go or let anyone know. I…have never experienced the pain of losing someone precious to me before since I have been an orphan. I never knew my parents and being a part of his family made me feel happy. I…"

"You miss him…" Tenten finished, "I can see why you snapped at me…I knew my parents until I was six. My mother died in an ambush in Ame while my father died defending his platoon from rogue ninja from Kumogakure."

She paused to pull out two necklaces with a half circle attached to them; they were the yin and yang symbols, "These are the only mementos I have of them, I miss them so much that it hurts. I was angry at Kumo and Ame, but my uncle told me that holding grudges brings more suffering; beginning the cycle of hatred…those were the words of his sensei. Slowly over the years, I have begun to let go of that path …I still haven't forgive them, but my hate has lessened."

Naruto replied softly, "I blame myself for what happened to Takeshi…if I had made sure that I wasn't followed, I could have let him live longer, but sadly, I can't change the past." Tenten touched his shoulder, "Almost everyone in the world feels the same way when it comes to losing someone precious to them. The only way to let them go is to honor their memory by just living your life with no regrets and never forget them."

The Jinchuuriki smiled as tears ran down his face and looked up to see Tenten crying as well, "Yeah…you're right, I'm sorry for the way I acted."

"And I am sorry for prying into your life."

Tenchi said, "Unfortunately that is not good enough." The two Genin jumped a bit to see Tenchi with his arms crossed, "Tenten has told me that she owes you a repayment for her curiosity, have you thought of one?"

Naruto shook his head and Tenten said, "The only thing I can think of is discounts for life." Tenchi's smirk grew wider, "Then how about you two go on a date?"

"W-What?" Both of them cried out.

"Well, Naruto, you need to loosen up a bit and have fun, plus this is a good way to apologize. Tenten, I have seen you as a kunoichi, but never as a woman. You hardly go out to have fun now that you are with Gai and on the plus side, I know you hate dresses. So young lady…you will be wearing a dress for your date tomorrow night."

The man turned to Naruto, "You are going to be the perfect gentleman and take her to the Cornerstone Restaurant, I will deal with the reservations."

"But, uncle…that is the most expensive restaurant in our district, how are you going to get reservations?!"

Tenchi smirked, "Easy, the co-owner of that place happens to be me, how do you think that I was able to get this shop? Now, Naruto, you will pick Tenten up by eight, take her dancing and such, and then bring her back by ten o'clock sharp. I expect that you will treat her respectfully."

"Of course…"

"Wait a minute! Don't I get a say in this?!" Tenten protested.

"Nope, it is part of your punishment as well as your repayment." Her uncle said with a toothy grin, "Or would you prefer for me to ask Gai to increase your training due to your dull flames of youth." Tenten's face turned up in horror and mumbled, "I will do the date…"

"Excellent! I will see you two tonight at eight o'clock." Tenchi replied as he ushered the Jinchuuriki out the door. Naruto blinked as he thought, _"Well, that…was interesting, I don't even agree why I take her out for."_

"Humans have basic instinct when finding a companion; they act on that instinct to find the one person that is compatible with."

Naruto replied to his personal A.I., _"Well, I wonder how it will turn out."_ The boy went home and plan for his date with Tenten. Later that night, Naruto looked at himself in the mirror, he was wearing black dress pants along with a matching jacket, his shirt was a dark burnt orange with the first button unclasped.

Also just in case, he had any problems, he hid a small seal inside his jacket pocket, which held a crossbow. "Well, now I need to stop by the flower shop as well." He said to himself. The Jinchuuriki looked over at the clock, which shone in dark blue to show that it was 6:32 pm.

The Uzumaki walked out the door to go to the Yamanaka flower Shop where Inoichi's wife, Nabiki and Ino worked at. Inside, he found Ino at the counter and the female heir said in surprise, "Naruto, you…you look good, where are you going?"

The boy smirked, "Hey, Ino, I have reservations at the Cornerstone, where I am taking my friend to dinner."

"Who is she?"

"That is for me to know and for you to never find out, although you are my comrade; you do have a tendency to run your mouth."

"I do not."

"Really now? You did expose Hiroshi's relationship with Ayane…"

"Well, I…"

"And you told everyone how Megami was two-timing Takeshi and Daiki."

"That was…"

"And let's not forget how you told everyone that Ami was making out with Kira in the teacher's lounge."

"Alright, alright, so I gossip a little, so what?"

"You are the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka, who, in fact, is the second-in-command of the Konoha Torture and Interrogation Department. It's natural that you would like to be there as well. Like father, like daughter, the saying goes. Anyway I need a bouquet of flowers, preferably with a honey color."

"Alright, let's see, we will need some jasmine, yellow roses and some daffodils. All of that will be totaled up to 800 ryo." Ino said. Naruto handed her the money and Ino went to work on the bouquet, and then gave it to her friend.

"Treat this 'friend' of yours right, Naruto."

"You got it, Ino; I will be seeing you at Training Area 5 after the exams." Naruto said as he walked out the door.

**Heaven's Earth-** the Jinchuuriki arrived at the shop and went to the building connected to it to knock on the door. Tenchi appeared at the door and whistled in amusement, "Wow, you clean up nice. Come on and have a seat, I will get Tenten and when I say 'get', I mean drag."

Naruto chuckled lightly as the man went upstairs to grab his niece, he heard a bit of protesting and then Tenten was pushed out in front of Naruto, she was wearing a flowery dress with a 7-inch slit on each side along with heels that had black straps wrapped around her ankles.

She was also wearing red lipstick and most of all, her hair was cascaded down and curled, much like a certain ruby-eyed sensei and Tenten was blushing hard. "Wow, you should wear your hair more often like that…" Naruto commented.

"I-I…it gets in the way when I'm fighting."

The Jinchuuriki, along with Tenten's uncle laughed at her for a moment, making the Weapons Mistress pout a bit. Naruto pulled out the bouquet and said, "By the way, these are for you…" Tenten took them gingerly and smelled them a bit, "Thank you…they are lovely."

Tenchi took them and put them in a large vase, "Extra points for punctuality and class, Naruto…now before you two go away, I have to take some pictures…" Tenten groaned while the Jinchuuriki gave out a small chuckle at her expense, making her punch him in the arm.

After Tenchi's humiliation of his niece, the two Genin strode to the Cornerstone Restaurant, the weapons mistress tried to shrink herself into her friend's shoulder as people were staring at them, wondering just who was the girl that was clinging to the Kyuubi brat's arm.

"Naruto, they are staring at us…" Tenten whispered.

"Not me, you…mainly no one has even seen you like this before, am I correct?"

Tenten nodded her head silently and Naruto whispered, "You will be fine…by the way, we are here." The girl lifted her head to see that they had indeed arrived at the restaurant. The two walked inside and Naruto said, "Reservations for Uzumaki."

The waiter looked up with a courteous smile and said, "Of course, Uzumaki-san, right this way please?" The male employee lead the two to a table and seated the two to leave as he said, "Your server will be with you shortly."

Naruto said, "So what can you tell me about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?"

Tenten's mood perked up as she automatically replied, "Jinin Akebino wielded Kabutowari, a unique sword that looks like a giant axe and hammer connected to a cord. Next is Ameyuri Ringo, who used Kiba, which is claimed to be the sharpest blades even made especially with his Raiton affinity, but now it is held by Raiga Kurosuki. Then comes Jinpachi Munashi, holding Shibuki, which is a blunt sword covered with explosive tags that can be replaced instantly after each use."

She paused for a moment, "Now Kushimaru Kuriarare, he had Nuibari, a sewing sword which allows him to pierce his enemies and bring them together for a final attack. Mangetsu Hozuki, who wielded Hiramekarei, a double-handed sword that creates a chakra layer that looks like a hammer, but I think that he is dead or something. Then there is Kisame Hoshigaki, who wields Samehada, a sword that eats an opponent's chakra and lastly, Zabuza Momochi…"

"Who wields Kubikiri Bocho, a sword that can't be broken by any normal means and can be repaired by using the iron hidden in the blood of its enemies."

Tenten replied, "Correct, did Takeshi-san tell you that?"

"No, Takeshi didn't…I met Zabuza during my C-rank turned A-rank mission, plus he was my trainer, that sadistic bastard."

Tenten said in shock, "You met Zabuza Momochi and got trained by him?! Why didn't you tell me about it?!"

"One, you and I never met. Two, he was going to leave after I got trained by him because of Takeshi choosing me as his successor of Kitami and three, you never ask about it until now."

Tenten pouted and Naruto laughed, "Don't worry; I am sure that you will get your chance to meet him. After all, word of him reached me that stated that Kirigakure's civil war ended and a new Mizukage has been established, so there is a chance that you can meet him during the Chunin Exam Finals."

Tenten smiled and another waiter came up, "Hello, my name is Satoshi and I will be your waiter for this evening. What will you two like?" The two blushed in embarrassment as they picked up their menus to order their dinner.

"I will have a sirloin steak with macaroni and cheese as a side along some Brussels sprouts, lightly salted." Tenten said as Satoshi wrote down her order, and then turned to Naruto, who replied, "I will have the chicken parmesan with the buffalo wings as my side order and a salad with ranch dressing and croutons please?"

Satoshi confirmed their orders by repeating it back to them, which he got correct on the first try, then left to tell the cooks. "So what is your team like, Tenten?"

"Well, I guess I could tell you considering that none of us are in the finals. Lee is much like a carbon copy of our eccentric sensei, Might Gai. He is loud, amazing at taijutsu and has uncanny determination. He trains harder than any person that I have ever seen and believes that a genius of hard work can overcome a natural genius like Neji or Sasuke. Neji, on the other hand, is cold and aloof especially when it comes to Kumo or the Main Family. I was surprised to find out that his cousin was able to beat him so easily though. He always commented how weak she was."

"Just goes to show that you can't underestimate people no matter how weak they seem. She could have been faking it." Naruto replied, inwardly smirking at Hinata's development.

"What about your team?"

"Sasuke was anti-social in the beginning due to that incident of his, but eventually we got him to lighten up a bit. Like his family, he is a bit of a pyromaniac."

Tenten grinned and giggled a bit at Naruto's joke as he continued, "Now, Sakura, she has changed a lot. At first, she was a bit of a fan girl, so I had to straighten that out quickly since she was a bit weak and possibly get killed. So I helped out with her training and put her in a closer light to Sasuke."

"So you are making her strong and playing matchmaker as well, risky…"

"Not if Sasuke catches on, he wants to fight me, so I spent time with her indicating that if he could turn her into a better kunoichi than me, then he would get a shot at me. In result, Sakura gets stronger and closer to Sasuke while he sees her talent, making him deem her worthy of dating."

Tenten nodded, "Very devious, Naruto…"

"Why, thank you."

Then Satoshi appeared to give them their plates of food and they ate as they talked about other things like music, art and hobbies. Naruto found out that Tenten loves fortune-telling and Chinese food while Tenten learned that the Jinchuuriki enjoys gardening and red bean soup.

Their talk ended around nine and their food was empty as well as their dessert, suddenly music filled the air and Naruto got up, extending his hand to his date, "Care to dance with me, mademoiselle?" Tenten blushed a bit and muttered something inaudible and Naruto leaned down, "What?"

"I don't know how to dance."

The nanite-enhanced boy smiled softly as he took her hand gently as he replied, "Don't worry, I will teach you how, it is how taijutsu was actually first developed." He took the brown-eyed girl to the center of the floor, "Now put your hand on my shoulder…good, now I will put my hand on your waist. Now our remaining hands can either clasp together or we can do the same thing like we previously did."

"The latter please…" Tenten replied.

"Alright, now the basic steps, you will follow my lead. Wherever I go, you go." Naruto and Tenten moved slowly to the left and right for a bit, so the mistress could get used to it. "Good, now on to the advanced moves, the twirl. Now when we are clasping hands, I lift my hand up and you twirl in place, alright?"

Tenten nodded and slowly twirled in place to face Naruto as he praised her, "You catch on quick, now sometimes on the other hand; the woman will face forward while doing the basic movements. Now the last move is the twirling out, you twirl out to the side until your arm is outstretched; I do the same thing as well somewhat. Are you ready?"

The woman nodded and they performed the move several times until she got it, then the duo kept going over more dance moves until Tenten felt more comfortable with it. Soon a song came on with an upbeat song to it and the weapons mistress looked over at her male partner, "I think I am ready for a test run."

The Jinchuuriki smirked and took her hand to twirl her towards him. Tenten relented and let her hand touch his chest to stop herself and then the two danced with each other to the upbeat song, getting faster and more seductive.

The kunoichi momentarily twirled away from Naruto and the Jinchuuriki grinned as he playfully chased after her, then took her by the waist and dipped her low as the song ended. Applause was heard, making Tenten and Naruto snap back to reality and blush heavily.

The two took a bow and next, a slow song appeared on the floor, the lights dimmed down to set the mood, prompting dates and couples to the dance floor. Naruto and Tenten danced slowly, swaying to the sensual music and Tenten commented, "You know, I never thought that I would learn dancing from you, Naruto. You are quite light on your feet, where did you learn to dance like this?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I read books and watch videos of it?"

"No, not really, considering that you are an incredible dancer, but I suppose that you would need some tips from literature."

"So says the girl who couldn't dance and hates playing dress-up." He teased and she lightly slapped his chest only for it to rest there for a moment. "_Wow…he must work out hard when he is training, maybe I should join him, so I could see it for my…no, bad Tenten, this is your friend you are thinking about. You can't possibly like him like that after just one date…my first date. Although he is kinda cute and strong, not to mention he is a regular in our shop."_ She thought to herself.

"Am I holding too tight?"

"N-No, it's fine."

The two swayed to the music until the end and Naruto left a tip for Satoshi before they left the restaurant. Tenten walked closely to her friend and reached the house. "Well, here we are…safe and sound as well as ten minutes early."

"Thank you for showing me a good time and the dances were lovely." Tenten said, then Naruto took her head and kissed it, "The pleasure was all mine, Tenten. Cheer me on in the finals?"

"Definitely…" she said with a light blush.

Naruto smiled and turned to leave until Tenten grabbed him, turned him around to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Night!" she said quickly as she moved inside the house, leaving Naruto to return home while absentmindedly rubbed his cheek along with a lopsided grin on his face.

Now Naruto woke up on the day of his finals and thought, _"So it looks like today is the day, huh?_ _Alright, time to gear up for war."_ He got out of his bed and packed up a shitload of weapons to seal in his designs on his pants. _"Ok, extra kunai and shuriken, crossbows and bolts, Kitami, check…now for an intimidating look." _

He chose to wear a sleeveless gi with his matching grey version of his pants, then he put on his armored gauntlet, foregoing his gloves at the moment, then came a tattered cloak complete with a hood that he 'borrowed' from a bandit on one of his missions.

With everything intact, he set up the anti-theft seal that was given to him by Tenchi and decided to be fashionably late for his match. Meanwhile in the stadium, everyone was being seated while the Genin stood in front of the spectators.

Sakura, Shikamaru and Hinata wondered where was Naruto and Sasuke when a sudden wind blew through, then followed a song from a harmonica. All of the Genin looked at the entrance to see a hooded figure with a tattered cloak blowing in the wind.

His face was covered and the cloak covered almost everything, leaving his legs and left hand shown, which was covered by a clawed, armored gauntlet that Sakura recognized as he came closer. "Wait a minute…I recognize that gauntlet anywhere, that is Naruto. Hmph, figures that he would show off today?" Sakura said, "But I wonder how he was able to make that wind though?"

Naruto joined the ranks of his fellow Genin and Shikamaru commented, "So glad that you could join us, I was afraid that you had gotten yourself killed in your own reckless training."

"Nah, I wouldn't miss this for the world…" Naruto replied as he glanced over at Sakura, whose wardrobe had changed slightly from her regular attire, only her midriff was shown along with her legs _**(Picture Crescent Moon Kingdom attire)**_ and she had a dark red trench coat.

Hinata had changed as well, she lost the jacket and wore a tight black shirt, and the jacket was replaced with a chest high windbreaker with the Hyuga clan on the back with the Will of Fire sign on her right sleeve. On the small of her back, it had the ever present swirl.

"So this is it…are you ready, guys?"

The three Konoha Ninja nodded and turned their attention to the proctor along with the crowd, who were murmuring with excitement.

**Kage Booth-** The Hokage murmured, "So Sasuke is not here yet, I guess that Kakashi and Mikoto are getting some last minute training in." Suddenly the Kazekage came up, flanked by his two bodyguards and Hiruzen thought, _"So you have come, Orochimaru...knowing your ego, you like to envision yourself at the highest power." _

"Welcome, Kazekage-dono, I trust that your journey was pleasant."

"It was a bit long and tiring, but Hokage-dono, you look a bit older, shouldn't you be looking for a Godaime soon?" The Hokage began to laugh, "No, not yet…I believe that I will be able to do this for at least five more years."

"I'm sure you will, Sarutobi-dono." A gravelly, deep voice said and both Kages turned to look to see Zabuza, along with a man with a black eye patch over one of his eyes. In the middle, was a russet-red haired woman in her mid-late 20's. "May I ask who are you, miss?" Sarutobi asked.

"Mei Terumi, Godaime Mizukage, you have already met Zabuza Momochi already and on my left is my Jonin bodyguard, Ao." The woman said. Sarutobi replied, "Welcome, Mizukage-dono, but may I ask why you have come here? None of the Mist Genin are in the finals unfortunately…"

"I know, but without the influence of one of your Genin, we wouldn't have won our civil war as well as gain the service of Zabuza Momochi…"

"Naruto Uzumaki, I presume."

"Correct, that is the reason why I have come to see the young man who easily got Zabuza's heart to soften a little."

Zabuza growled in a warning tone, "Mei…"

The Hokage chuckled, "Please sit down while I announce our exam." The old man got up and shouted, "Welcome, everyone, to the Chunin Exam Finals! We will now start the main tournament matches between our ten participants who have made it pass the preliminaries."

The Kazekage commented, "If there is supposed to be ten, then one is missing."

Genma called out loudly, "Alright, now we will commence the first of the Chunin Exam Finals, same rules apply from the prelims. So will everyone except Naruto Uzumaki and Dosu Kinuta please proceed to the stands?"

Everyone in the stadium went towards the stairs and Sakura whispered, "Good luck, Naruto…" Naruto nodded and entered a staredown with the Sound Ninja as Genma shouted, "Match 1: Naruto Uzumaki versus Dosu Kinuta…begin."

Naruto grabbed the front of his cloak and threw it off, revealing his smoke grey attire to move in a fighting stance, _"I can't let him get a good strike on me with that gauntlet and I still have my ear plugs with my headphones on my ears as well."_ He thought to himself.

Dosu stated, "You will not stand in my way, I will make Orochimaru pay for what he has done to me and my comrades by killing Sasuke Uchiha."

The Jinchuuriki thought to himself, _"What? I am guessing that Orochimaru was sending them to test his strength and since Sasuke defeated Zaku while Shikamaru defeated Kin. Maybe I can convert him to our side, but the thing is how to find them…"_

He voiced, "I'm sorry that you found out the hard way, but I could offer you a way to repay his treachery by joining us." Dosu looked at him and said, "What?"

"Pining after Sasuke will only make me angry…even if you manage to kill Sasuke, what are you going to do after that? You will be running for the rest of your life or eventually Orochimaru will torture you alive until you are broken completely…."

Dosu retorted, "That…is none of the business!" He charged at Naruto and swung at him with his gauntlet. The Jinchuuriki blocked his attack with his arm while Dosu shouted, **"Ninpou: Kyomeisen!" **The sound was directed by Dosu's chakra to enter Naruto's ears, but to no avail.

"What?"

WHAM! Naruto used his armored hand to punch Dosu in the face, "You didn't even gain new skills and you expect to defeat Orochimaru?"

"How? Those are just regular headphones?!"

Naruto taps his headphones, "Nope, I made these to counter at your sound vibrations and puts earplugs as my second defense...I know how to read lips." Then he narrowed his eyes, "Like I said before, you won't be able to defeat me with that level of power let alone Sasuke or Orochimaru."

"Shut up!" Dosu cried out as he found Naruto using Taijutsu. Naruto ducked under Dosu's kick and sent him flying into the wall, then punched him in his chest as he whispered, "Denial is the first step, but you and I know that you can't defeat him on your own, you will need your teammates and I will help you."

Dosu replied, "W-What? Why are you so persistent in helping me? I want to kill Sasuke, your friend and teammate."

"Exactly why I am trying to persuade you to join us, almost every shinobi has a grudge against him, especially our second proctor…if you join us, we could help you and your team by training under her." Dosu looked at him, "How do I know that you're not lying…"

Naruto grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground, "You are talking to one of the teammates that Orochimaru tried to do something funny to Sasuke…so of course, I have a grudge against him." Then the Jinchuuriki mouthed, "Will you join us?"

Dosu gave him the slightest of nods and said, "Proctor, I forfeit the match."

"Winner: Naruto Uzumaki!"

Dosu got up and whispered, "Orochimaru is disguised as the Kazekage and my teammates have been capture to use as sacrifices for a jutsu of his. They are on the southern wall." Naruto whispered back, "Got ya, I will send my Kage Bunshin right away. Just be sure to go to my sensei and drop your headband. Tell him Naruto sent you…"

Dosu walked away, holding his neck and Genma called out, "Now will Sasuke Uchiha and Gaara please come down?"

**Kage Booth-** The Hokage's Jonin bodyguard, Raido Namishi whispered, "Lord Hokage, there is still no sign of Uchiha Sasuke." Hiruzen sighed, "It seems that I have no choice, Sasuke Uchiha will be disqualified."

The Yondaime Kazekage said, "Hokage-dono, please wait a little longer for Uchiha-san to arrive and fight my son." Hiruzen replied, "My, you seem quite fond of this fight, Kazekage-dono." The disguised Kage of Wind Country stated, "But of course, I am along with many others would like to see this fight. Sasuke Uchiha, the last loyal Uchiha against the son of the Kazekage, an interesting match, don't you agree? It would be disappointing to the Daimyos and the audience."

Mei replied, "Although I hate to agree to this, but he is right…I am partly interesting in the abilities of Sasuke Uchiha as well as Naruto Uzumaki." Sarutobi nodded, "Fine, we will push the Uchiha's match back and keep the audience occupied."

Meanwhile on the outskirts of the village, the Oto ninja were setting up seal arrays until one of them was struck down with a kunai, all of them looked up to see that it was Konoha ANBU and the captain said in monotone, "Kill them…"

Genma said, "Due to one of the participants not being presented, this match will be postponed and moved back. Now will Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga please come down to the arena?" The kunoichis went down the stairs to the arena and faced each other.

Sakura let loose a seductive smirk, vaguely familiar of her sensei while Hinata had a determined look on her own. "Match 2: Sakura Haruno versus Hinata Hyuga…begin!" Genma shouted and the two of them sprang forward to attack.


	12. Chunin Exams Pt II

**Chapter 12- Chunin Exams Pt. II**

Sakura ducked under the confident Hyuga's palm strike and tried to send a sweeping kick to her legs only for her opponent to back flip towards the middle of the arena. **"Ninpou: Seneijashu!"** Sakura shouted as she directed her sleeve over toward Hinata's position.

"**Kaiten!"** Hinata shouted as she spun in place, surprising her father. Hanabi asked, "Father, when did she learn to do the Kaiten properly?"

"I have no idea…"

Naruto spoke up, "I believe that I can answer that for you." The two startled Hyuga looked behind them to see Naruto as he continued, "Hinata would get in some late night training in, I stumbled on one of those sessions and decided to help her out except on this month. This is the proof of her hard work…funny; all that she needed was some encouragement to get stronger, so strong with her new from that she defeated Neji partly to the new collaborations of the style."

"What do you mean?" Hiashi inquired.

"Your style was too stiff for her, too rigid. Her new style relies on her flexibility."

Sakura tried to hit Hinata with a right cross, but Hinata caught it by the Haruno's forearm and and moved in the side, Sakura responded with a knee to the chest, causing her opponent to stumble. The pink-haired girl sent kunai at Hinata, who took out her own to block them, allowing Sakura to punch her in the abdomen.

Hinata doubled over Sakura's arm and then she was grabbed by the shirt to be thrown into the trees, all the while Sakura shouted, "SHANNARO!" A resounding crash was heard as Hinata slammed into the trees and Naruto saw Sakura lick her lips in a sadistic manner, _"Oh, boy, I guess some of Anko-san's traits must have run off of her."_ Naruto thought as Hinata leapt out of the trees and moved toward Sakura, flipping through hand signs, **"Suiton: Mizurappa!" **

"**Katon: Housenka!" **

Hiashi as well as the Hyuga elders were a bit livid of using jutsu. Hiashi turned to Naruto, "You taught her…"

"Yes, I did teach her jutsu. As all Hyuga seem to die because they are facing long-range fighters, plus there is a slight weakness." Hiashi's eyes widened, "You know about…"

"Found out during her training, there is that small degree in the small of your back, which is your blind spot. You are lucky that I am not an enemy or they would have exposed this greatly. I am going to keep this a secret considering that there are members of Kumo are here…but in all seriousness, Lord Hyuga, you can't rely on your special techniques forever."

Hanabi argued, "But the Hyuga clan is the strongest clan here…"

"Yeah, but they were third to to the Senju and the Uchiha clan back there. Before the Uchiha massacre, you were second in terms of strength and population slightly. Remember, not everyone is invincible…look at Neji, beaten by your sister, who is slightly weaker than him because of the confusion when he saw her style. In order to make a change within her clan, she has to make a change within herself and that is the statement that she is making."

Hinata wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth while Sakura was busy pressing her nerve clusters to get the feeling back in the left arm. "Naruto-kun has helped you train, huh?" Hinata said with a smirk. Sakura said, "Yeah, along with some help with Sasuke in the jutsu department. I have noticed that you have done the same as well, huh?"

"Yes, he has…now let's not disappoint our guests, besides I always wanted to fight you next to Ino." Sakura said as she got into her stance with a saucy grin plastered on her face and the two kunoichis ran at each other.

Sakura reached into her dark red trench coat to pull out the twin Fuma kodachis that she…acquired from the Rain Ninja. Hinata was forced to halt on her charge and dodged Sakura's fury swipes narrowly_. "She is fast…"_ Hinata thought as she took out a kunai to defend herself.

She blocked Sakura's overhead swing and tapped her free hand to the elbow, causing her kodachi to come out her grasp, but she was cut in the abdomen by Sakura's kodachi in her left hand. Hinata gritted in pain at the wound to slam her opponent in the chest with force, making Sakura skid back and cough up blood.

The kodachi came down by Hinata and she grabbed it as she clashed with Sakura again. The audience watched them in silent awe as the two kunoichi clashed furiously, cutting into flesh and clothing. Hinata blocked a slash at her neck and returned the favor only to be blocked, and then the two of them sent a strike to their chest, one with a chakra-laced palm strike and the other with a closed fist.

The girls blasted away to opposite sides and struggled to get up only to succumb to their injuries as well as exhaustion. Genma looked at both of them, "Neither participant is able to battle, therefore I declare this match a draw."

The audience clapped in raucous applause as the medics carried the two away to treatment. "Well, wasn't that exciting?" Naruto commented. "Exciting? She tied with a commoner and you call that exciting?"

"Oh, damn, another Hyuga with an ice pick up their ass. I swear all of you have it completely wedged up there for either pleasure or something." He turned to Hiashi, "No offense, Lord Hyuga, but your clan needs to loosen up. Sure, being polite and proper is fine, but sometimes you need to tell how you feel despite your status."

Hiashi looked at him and Naruto smirked at him, "You understand what I am saying?"

Hanabi interjected, "Hah, I can beat her and you…"

"You wanna bet, little firecracker?"

"H-How dare you?!"

"That is your name, little firecracker and I am Naruto Uzumaki, I always dare and plus you walked into that. Also fighting you is overkill, Hinata…she would have a bit difficulty until you pushed a button and Neji, only I know he would beat the crap out of you….so I am going to let you spar with an Academy classmate of yours, Konohamaru Sarutobi…"

Hanabi smirked, "Fine, I will fight that clown…"

Naruto left and Hiashi inwardly smirked, _"Indeed, the eyes are the windows of the soul. If he could change Hinata for the better, then maybe he can also change Hanabi as well. You're powerful, Naruto Uzumaki."_

"Now the third match…will Sabaku no Kankuro and Shino Aburame please come down to the arena?" Kankuro thought to himself, _"Ugh…this match is utterly trivial and I can't risk the secrets of Karasu before the invasion starts." _He then nodded to his sister and shouted, "I forfeit!"

That statement surprised the crowd as well as Shino himself and like all Aburame, he sought to know why and discreetly sent a bug over to Kankuro's shoulder just as Temari floated down to the arena and Shikamaru was kicked over the railing, courtesy of Air Naruto. Shikamaru said, "Naruto…I hate you so much."

Temari said, "C'mon, get up! Are you going to just lie down all day?"

Shikamaru thought, _"I got stuck with a girl again?"_

Temari ran at him, "If you won't come, then I will!"

Genma said, "Hey, the match hasn't started!"

Temari didn't hear him and crashed the iron fan on Shikamaru, but the lazy boy quickly took out two kunai and embedded into the wall behind him.

"You know…" she looked up to see Shikamaru standing on top of the kunai with his hands in his pockets, "I hate to fight and I don't care about being Chunin, but I can't stand losing to a woman. So I'll guess I will take you on." He said with a grin

Temari smirked as she opened her fan and blew a wind strike at him. Smoke billowed and Temari looked in the corner of her eye, "Well, he's great at running."

Naruto shook his head while smirking, "No, Shikamaru may be lazy, but he hides his potential. He is able to think ahead at every possible situation and makes strategical moves against his opponents…but most likely he is going to win, but quit."

Temari thought, _"Okay, he is a ninja that uses shadows and probably trying to lure me into the trees….Like I will fall for that."_

Shikamaru lazily thought, "_Oh man, those clouds are lucky…so free. I really don't feel like doing this. I just became a ninja so I wouldn't be bothering….but I suppose…that things are not that simple."_

Temari thought, _"What the hell? Is he mocking me with that smile of his?"_

She shouted, swinging her fan, "**Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!"** The wind blew harshly in the arena. Tenten thought, _"That move was the one that knocked me out cold. Shikamaru has his hands full."_

Suddenly a shadow line appeared, rushing toward Temari, who moved quickly backwards until the shadow started to shrink. "Heh, there is a limit to how much you can shrink, stretch or change your shadow, isn't there. You can't stretch it any further than your normal shadow's surface area no matter how you change it."

Shikamaru chuckled, "That's right."

Temari then closed her fan and measured the distance, _"15 meters and 32 centimeters. He can use other shadows, but he can't control them, so he is using the shaded area to increase his length. But unfortunately no matter if he goes to the edge, the length will be the same."_

Kankuro said, "Temari is better at long-range fighting, this match is over."

Naruto smiled, "Nope, not yet!"

Shikamaru crouched and formed his hands into his thinking pose.

Naruto said, "Even though his grades were as bad as mine, he often said that he was too lazy to pick up his pencil to write, but he loves to play shogi a lot. Whenever he gets in a tight spot, he assumes that pose…..his sensei Asuma gave him an IQ test in shogi form and found out that his IQ…is over 200, he is a freaking genius."

Kankuro said, "So he might win, not quit."

Naruto answered, "We will see, he is out of his pose now."

Temari commented, "So it looks like you are finally getting serious now. **Ninpou: Kamaitachi**!" Shikamaru moved to cover in the trees and took off his shirt. "It is no use trying to hide! Stop running or give up!"

Suddenly two kunai were thrown, Temari dodged only to get in the path of another. She blocked it with her fan and a series of explosions were sounded in front and behind her. _"He attached explosive tags!"_ she thought, "_He is trying to distract me!"_

Then Shikamaru's shadow sprang in action. Temari thought, _"Nice try, but your shadow can't pass this line….wait, hold on….aw, shit!"_The shadow, sure enough, passes over the line, making the wind user sprang backwards yet again.

"I see…." She stated, "You used those kunai as distractions to keep me occupied while the sun moves, giving me more leverage. This should be your limit now."

Shikamaru said nothing, staring at her and Kankuro shouted, "Temari, above you!"

She looked up to see a makeshift parachute made out of Shikamaru's shirt and a kunai attached to the bottom of it.

"Son of a…." Temari cursed as she dodged the growing shadow.

"You will not escape!" Shikamaru declared.

Temari moved as she thought_, "Impressive….using the kunai to distract me from his shadow and then using his shadow to distract me from looking up and noticing the parachute…..but it's clear to me now."_

The shadow stopped and receded back a bit, so Temari stopped and flipped open her fan and placed it in front of her, _"I need to finish this quickly, his shadow will move farther as the sun moves, so I will use Bunshin no Jutsu, which will draw his attention to it. Then I will jump out and use all my chakra into the strongest possible Kamaitachi to rip him apart. Now where is his shadow…good, it's nowhere near me."_ Temari thought, _"Initiating attack...Bunshin no…"_

Suddenly she froze and thought, _"W-What? I-I'm frozen?"_

Shikamaru sprang his hands apart, "Finally Kagemane no Jutsu success."

Temari said, "B-But your shadow was nowhere near me…how did you get me?"

Shikamaru said, "I let you look behind you."

He turned his head and Temari under his jutsu's spell did the same. Temari's eyes widened as she saw a hole behind her and sure enough, his shadow connecting to hers. "When you used the Kamaitachi Jutsu, you loosed some of the gravel in where Neji was at… thus I used those kunai wrapped with a explosive tag with a little extra kick, making a hole in front and the back of you. The two made a tunnel and then I lured you over to this spot with all of those distractions and failed successions like my little puppet."

Temari gritted her teeth while Shikamaru said, "Checkmate!"

Naruto said, "Wait for it!"

Ino shouted, "Go!"

Choji munched ferociously as Shikamaru and Temari walked towards each other, then they both raised their hands as the shadow wielder said, "That's it….I quit."

Ino said, "Huh?"

Shikamaru said, "Those failed successions used up my chakra. I had thought up over 200 moves and I'm getting tired of this, one match is enough for me. Plus I can only hold you for about five more minutes."

Genma shouted, "**Winner:** Sabaku no Temari!"

Naruto looked around and mused to himself, _"Well, that was a long fight and still the teme ain't here. Oh, well, better congratulate them." _The Uzumaki jumped into the arena and walked toward Shikamaru and Temari, "That was a good match, Shikamaru."

"Thanks, but I still hate you."

Soon leaves swirled around to reveal Mikoto, Kakashi and an improved Sasuke with a new wardrobe. _**(A/N: Attire when he fights Itachi)**_ "Nice entrance, Sasuke, it was cool, but second to Naruto's mysterious hooded man look." Shikamaru commented.

Naruto eyed the chokuto on his back and looked into Sasuke's eyes to smirk, "How was your training?"

"Brutal, but I will survive." Sasuke commented, "Did you win your match?"

"Yes, I did…now don't go showing off too much. Remember, eyes see everything and snakes tend to love high places." The Jonin, along with Sasuke caught on it and Shikamaru was immediately picking apart the hint. Mikoto said to her son, "Be careful, Sasuke…"

"Right, Kaa-san."

Kakashi and Mikoto used their Shunshin to appear in the stands while Naruto and Shikamaru took the stairs, passing Gaara and two dead ninja hailing from Takigakure. The Jinchuuriki grimaced and slipped on his glove to burn the remains while Shikamaru said, "We have got to warn Sasuke and the Jonin, he could die…"

"Wouldn't matter…Gaara would pursue him relentlessly and you know Sasuke's stubborn pride beside he will win his match, so let's watch, but it if may you feel better, we can notify the Jonin." With that, the two Genin walked into the stands to watch the match after notifying the Jonin.

"**Match 5:** Sasuke Uchiha vs. Sabaku no Gaara, begin!"

Gaara's gourd popped out sand on the ground and Sasuke thought, "This is it, the sand that he controls…the Ichibi's sand."

Suddenly Gaara clutched his hand in pain and said, "I'm sorry…Mother." Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Mother? He must be talking to the Shukaku, so the demon inside of him drives him insane." Gaara replied to himself, "I know that I gave you some bad blood, but this time…it will be delicious."

The Uchiha thought, _"Well, it is official…I am a magnet for psychopaths, first, Itachi, then Orochimaru and now Gaara."_ Gaara twitched again and said in a stoic matter, "Come." Sasuke said, "Fine, you ask for it."

He quickly drew two shuriken and threw them at Gaara. The Suna Jinchuuriki's absolute defense caught the shuriken while making a Suna Bunshin. Sasuke took the time to charge at Gaara, but the Suna Bunshin's torso suddenly surged forward to meet the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped forward in the air and the Suna Bunshin flicked his own shuriken at him. The Uchiha was forced to return the shuriken and kicked at the Suna Bunshin's crossed arms. The arms blasted off as Sasuke slammed his palms on the ground to right himself on his feet and slammed his wrist into the Suna Bunshin's neck.

The clone was in shock, but it started to smirk as the sand seeped over the Uchiha's wrist. The Uchiha quickly dealt a palm strike to blast the Suna Bunshin's head into dust. He rushed through to get to Gaara, but another wall erected to block Sasuke's assault, but Sasuke smirked and Lee's eyes widened in surprise.

Gaara's eyes did the same as Sasuke suddenly appeared behind him, _"Fast….just like…him."_Sasuke drew his fist back and slugged Gaara in the face, cracking his Suna Yoroi and sending the psychotic boy into the ground.

Gai was shocked as he thought, "_He is just as fast as Lee's starting speed and his taijutsu…"_ Lee finished his sensei, unknowingly, _"Is the same as mine."_

Naruto thought, _"So sensei had to use Lee's speed to get past Gaara, no doubt he had to use the Sharingan to visualize Lee's speed."_

Sasuke moved into the Goken stance as he said, "So that is your armor, eh? Come on….I will rip it off." He sped through Gaara, but the sand tried to stop him from the front, but Sasuke veered behind him and twisted through the sand to kick Gaara away.

Sasuke taunted, "What's wrong….is that it?"

Kakashi thought, "_Don't get cocky now, Sasuke."_

Sasuke moved in a circle around Gaara and moved inside Gaara's guard to send a kick to Gaara's chin, and then he grabbed his shirt and brought him toward his persona to give him a knee to the chest. _"Sasuke, you are a genius beyond imagination, it took me years to reach that speed, but just in only a month, you were able to reach it."_

Lee thought as he looked at Sasuke, who was panting with exertion. _"But to keep up at that kind of movement requires a lot of strength."_

Kankuro thought, _"What are you going to do, Gaara? The Suna no Yoroi uses a lot of chakra, you know you can't use for long."_

Gai asked, _"__What kind of training did you put him through?"_

Kakashi answered, "Sasuke had seen Lee's taijutsu before, so that is why I had train him in Lee's taijutsu as well. Since he knew Lee and seen his taijutsu in action, he was able to master the style by visualizing it. It was hard work."

Lee thought**,**_"But just with my taijutsu, it is not enough."_

Gai thought, _"Kakashi, what are you up to? You saw the battle between Lee and Gaara, so you should know that taijutsu will not be enough to defeat him….so why did you have Sasuke focus on taijutsu?"_

Gaara immediately had his sand encircle him, but the Uchiha ran forward to stop Gaara. Sasuke threw a punch at the sand, only for his fist to suffer by bleeding as the sand globe grew spikes to halt Sasuke's assault. The Uchiha had a cut on his cheek and a gash on his right leg.

He fell back as he felt warm blood running down his leg, _"Using all of that sand to protect himself…..that it gets so hard when it packed like that, so this is an absolute defense."_ Soon a third eye appeared, hovering over the side of the sand globe while Gaara sat down and concentrated, chanting a mantra.

Temari thought, _"Gaara plans to use that jutsu….this is bad."_

Sasuke had a shocked look on his face, but then he smirked as he wiped the blood off of his cheek. The Uchiha moved forward and aimed a kick at the shell, it bounced off. _"As I thought, it is no good trying to use taijutsu against it…since I can't see what he is up to, since he is hiding in there, it is a perfect opportunity to test out my new jutsu…since it takes a lot of time too."_

Sasuke unclipped a button on the black spiral thing on his arm; he jumped up on the balcony and used chakra to stick to the wall. He crouched and Gai's eyes widened, "So that is why you did that…"

Sakura said, "Huh?"

A familiar voice said, "Kakashi-sensei had Sasuke focus on taijutsu and speed since the ninjutsu that he is about to use requires a lot of speed." Everyone turned to see Naruto approaching them.

"Hey, Naruto, congratulations on your match today." Ino said.

"Thanks, Ino….hello, sensei; I assume you taught him that jutsu."

"Yes, yes, I did."

Gai said, "You didn't…."

Kakashi said, "I did."

Ino asked, "What jutsu is that?"

Kakashi said, "It is my original jutsu that I made when I was 12…..the Lightning Blade, the Raikiri."

Naruto said, "Yeah, but this Raikiri sounds different…this one sounds like chirping birds."

Kakashi said, "I didn't teach him Raikiri…Sasuke doesn't have enough chakra to use it, so I taught him the predecessor of the Raikiri."

Sasuke flipped through hand signs and white electricity burned on his hand.

"After all, he is a lot like I used to be." Kakashi said.

Sasuke ran down the wall, allowing his Chidori drag and create a trench in the wall and stadium floor.

"_It is incredible…you can see the chakra in his hand."_ Ino thought.

Meanwhile inside the sand globe, Gaara was talking to himself once again, "Yes…I am going to rip off his head…..then crack it open, so the brain can spill out….huh, the head….then tons of blood will flow out….you can have it all, Mother. Kyahahaha….aren't I such a good boy, Mother….I am always a good boy….Yeah, let's do it, Mother….I will be watching."

Gai muttered, "A simple stab."

Ino said, "What?"

Gai explained, "It's a technique created solely for assassination, the speed of the stab and the large amount of chakra concentrated to create the heightened flesh combined makes the sound of chirping birds."

Sakura said, "So if it is not called the Raikiri, then what is it?"

Gai said, "The jutsu is called….Chidori." At the moment the word escaped Gai's lips, Sasuke had burst through Gaara's defense.

Kankuro said, "No way….has Gaara's defense been breached?!"

Temari said, "That is impossible."

Gai said, "Since the speed of the user and the amount of concentrated chakra focused in one arm, then it becomes like a sword. If any other user were able to use this, they would have experienced tunnel vision….but the Sharingan helps this matter which is why only Sasuke is able to use this jutsu to its full potential."

Lee thought, _"I see, I wouldn't be able to run at that speed straight at my opponent….because it is easier to make a counterattack and I don't possess the Sharingan to see the counter. I'm jealous of you, Sasuke…my sense of superiority came when I defeated you since your body couldn't keep up with my speed…but now you have that speed including the Sharingan."_

Sasuke said, "I got you now, Sabaku no Gaara."

Inside the globe, Gaara asked, "What…is this warm stuff? Mother…what did…ah…UWAAAAAA…IT'S MY BLOOD! MY BLOOD!"

Suddenly Naruto felt a cold shiver run up their spine and immediately knew that Gaara was using the demon's chakra. Sasuke felt something crushing his arm and had to use the Chidori to free himself, Gaara screamed again as Sasuke pulled his arm back to have a strange looking arm with blue veins running across it.

Kankuro became fearful as he thought, _"There is no mistake….it's 'his' arm."_

Gai asked, "What is that?"

Kankuro whispered, "Did he attain his complete form?"

Temari whispered back, "I don't know…it looks like Uchiha wounded him, this has never happen before." Sasuke peered inside the hole and gasped as he saw an eye glaring at him….it was amber with an inverted four-pointed star with four dots in a square-like fashion.

"_I am getting chills just from the memories from the first time I saw it….I couldn't eat for weeks after seeing that…that thing."_ Kankuro thought in fear.

Genma's body started to quiver, _"What's….this feeling?"_ Suddenly the sphere started to crack and revealed Gaara clutching his right shoulder. _"I knew it….the cocoon was broken before he could transform fully."_Temari thought.

Sasuke thought, _"No, it wasn't those eyes…what was that…thing that was looking at me earlier?"_

Suddenly feathers started to fall down and the audience started to fall asleep along with several of the Genin in the stadium. Sasuke noticed this in the audience while Naruto and Sakura dispelled the genjutsu quickly, along with the Jonin and Chunin.

Soon fights broke out as Suna and Oto ninja forces came out of the woodwork to attack. Naruto and Sakura immediately converged on Sasuke's position just as Kankuro, Temari and their sensei Baki came on Gaara.

"You idiot, you went too early…Temari, Kankuro, take Gaara out of here until he recovers." The sensei ordered. The older Sand siblings took each of Gaara's arms over their shoulders and moved out of the stadium into the forest.

"You three, after them! Don't let them escape!" Genma said.

"You got it!" Naruto replied as he led his team into the forest after Gaara, Baki moved to intercept them by throwing kunai, but Genma spat out his lone senbon to knock all three off course. Meanwhile, in the booth, Sarutobi acted quickly to kill the two bodyguards and sent an uppercut to the Kazekage.

Mei, Ao and Zabuza followed after him and Sarutobi took off his Hokage robes to reveal his battle armor. "I am sorry, Mizukage-dono, it seems that you have appeared here at a bad time. Looks like I have a traitor to deal with, right, Orochimaru?"

The Kazekage got up slowly to rip off his face to show Orochimaru's scowling face, "You knew that I was here?"

"I knew that you were here a month ago, a friend of mine notified me of your attempt to crush your old home. Oh, by the way, I had some of my ANBU take care of your little summoning array, so no snakes for you."

"You are going to die here, Sandaime." Orochimaru declared as he cast aside his robes to reveal his Oto attire. Mei stepped forward, "Not if we kill you, Orochimaru." The old man looked over at the female water ninja, "Mizukage-dono?"

"This man is too dangerous to leave alone and plus he has Kiminaro Kaguya in his custody. I need him back as well as payback for taking Kiri members to figure out their bloodlines with his experimentations. Also…saving your life would give me brownie points for an alliance and a good word from Uzumaki-san."

Sarutobi smiled, "Indeed…well, then shall we?"

"Yes, let's welcome the snake to death's embrace."

Ao, Zabuza, Mei and Sarutobi charged at Orochimaru, who was a lighter shade of pale, probably due to the fact that he didn't act fast, his ass was going to be screwed and not in a good way that he generally likes. Back to Team Seven, the three tracked Gaara into the forest and Naruto heard his name called out to see Shikamaru and Shino coming after them.

"What are you two doing here?" Sasuke asked, "And how did you find us?"

Shino replied, "I planted a female beetle on Naruto before you three left." The Uchiha replied, "That would explain it, we better go now or else more of those Oto ninja might try to stop us." Shino stiffened a bit, "You spoke too soon, Sasuke-san, the bugs in the area tell me that there are nine enemy ninjas closing on our position."

Shikamaru said, "I will stall them, my jutsu is best for capture and you need Shino to track those three."

The Jinchuuriki replied, "Are you sure, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah, I won't be useful that much in a fight, besides fighting is way too troublesome." Team Seven, along with Shino paused for a moment and slowly nodded as they wished Shikamaru safety, then jumped away to pursue Gaara and his siblings.

After a few minutes, the four Genin caught up with them only to have the sister, Temari to block their path. "I got this, guys…she is mine." Sakura declared as she drew one of the kodachis. Temari retorted, "Oh, so you think you can take me, little girl?"

"All that and more…now let's see that river of red." The Haruno said as she sprang out to meet Temari, but the Suna kunoichi blocked the attack with the blunt edge of her fan. "Too slow!" Temari shouted as she kicked Sakura away and opened her fan, **"Ninpou: Kamaitachi!"**

The sharp wind slammed into Sakura, sending her to the tree and Temari noticed that she used Kawarimi before the whirlwind became lethal. "I see that you know how to dodgem you may provide me with some entertainment." Temari called out as she got ready once again.

**Naruto, Sasuke & Shino-** The trio caught up with Gaara once again and the puppeteer moved to take care of them. Shino began to secrete his kikaichu, "Sasuke, Naruto, ike! You two are practically the only two that can match Gaara's monstrous power, besides…this guy owes me a match that he weaseled out of."

The two boys of Team Seven nodded and went after Gaara, who was moving very slowly, clutching his head in pain. As Naruto and Sasuke came near, Gaara's gourd began to fuse with his right side. "It is over, Gaara…you have nowhere to run." Naruto declared and Sasuke's eyes widened as he activated his Sharingan to see Gaara's chakra.

"Naruto…something has changed, I don't think that is Gaara anymore."

"How so?"

"When I wounded him back in the stadium, that arm that I pulled out is the same one that is on him."

Naruto muttered, "Shukaku…" Sasuke heard his mutter and said, "What?"

"Sabaku no Gaara is the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi no Shukaku."

Sasuke asked, "A Jinchuuriki? What the hell is a Jinchuuriki exactly?"

"A demon host, one that has a seal on their body to keep it at bay and have the ability to use the demon's power, but due to the village's fear, they ostracized them so much that they become anti-social and psychotic."

The Uchiha replied, "But…how do you know about all of this, you shouldn't know anything of this…unless…unless you are one yourself." Naruto said nothing and Sasuke continued, "You are one, aren't you, Naruto? That is why you are so strong."

"No…that is not the reason why I am strong. I train hard every day like everyone else, this demon inside me that I carry…I hate the son of a bitch with a passion like every villager here does. It took away my parents and apparently the Yondaime saw something within me to choose me as the vessel, I want to find a way to make it so helpless and make it learn how it feels to have everything taken from you."

Sasuke gripped his fist as he thought of Itachi and said, "I know the same feeling…but do you have control of it?"

"No, but I am learning through a different method." Naruto said as he bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and swiped it on one of his seal to get Kitami out. Sasuke drew his chokuto out, "That is good enough for me…once you know how to control it, maybe I will consider you helping me against my brother."

Naruto replied with a smirk, "What happened to I work alone?"

"Look, you had more problems on your back than me and I think having a friend with a controlled chakra powerhouse in his gut could help me out, plus I am still wondering why you aren't insane."

"It is because I had friends…"

Suddenly 'Gaara' turned to look at them with his mismatched eyes, "Ah, Uzumaki and Uchiha, good to see you two….you saved me the trouble of having to find you two. Now you will die!" Gaara sped toward them, the males jumped away as they thought, _"Fast…if it were for the nanites/Sharingan, I would have been dead." _

Sasuke moved toward Gaara as he channeled lightning chakra into the sword, cutting into Gaara's back. The Suna Jinchuuriki screamed not in equal pain, but in euphoria as well, "Ah…you…you hurt me, I have never felt pain before, never seen my own blood spilled. Keep it up; it makes me feel so ALIVE!"

Sasuke shivered in fear at the insane look in Gaara's eyes, but then Naruto came in with Kitami to slash Gaara's back as well, making Gaara turn only to get a face full of flame. Gaara screamed out and knocked the two away, using his engorged Shukaku arm.

They landed against trunks hard, spitting out blood and Naruto commented, "He is immensely fast and strong, as expected from the Ichibi container." The Uchiha replied, "I would seriously shit in my pants if that guy was you."

Naruto got up as he replied, "Yeah, but then you would do everything in your power to stop me though to save your family and home…just like we are about to do. Now it's time to kick some ass!" Sasuke nodded in agreement and joined Naruto in the charge.

"**Futon: Mugen Sajin Daitoppa!"** Gaara shouted and then the Ichibi Jinchuuriki spat out gusts of wind and sand. The Genin were blown back into the trees again and Gaara went over to attack the closest one, which happened to be Naruto.

"**Suiton: Mizurappa!"** Naruto shouted as he quickly used one hand sign to spew water at Gaara in the face, drenching his body. Sasuke sheathed his weapon to activate Kakashi's jutsu, **"Chidori!"** he roared as he pierced through Gaara's Shukaku arm and the water that covered his body augmented the lightning greatly.

Soon more sand appeared to cover his boy and Naruto said, "This isn't good, he is beginning to lose control and shift closer to Shukaku's form." Sasuke said, "What happened if he does?"

"Then we will have a reenactment of the Kyubi attack."

Sasuke smirked, "So it is up to us to save the village, huh? This should be fun."

"Why is it that you always get excited in fighting strong opponents while facing impossible odds?"

"Don't know, I guess it is in my blood. Now I can only do one Chidori and the rest will have to be my Katon techniques."

Naruto summoned his chakra, "Then I guess I will have to subdue him with brute force, Kage **Bunshin no Jutsu!**" At that moment, a thousand clones appeared in white plumes of smoke, Sasuke was surprised, "I thought you didn't know how to control the Kyuubi chakra."

"I don't, this is using my chakra only…my own clan is known for using high-ranking techniques with ease as well as their extended life span. That is one of the main reasons why they were almost wiped out, now…my minions, get him!"

The clones followed the original's orders to a tee and attacked Gaara with vigor. The Ichibi Jinchuuriki was flung around like a rag doll by the assault of the clones, then was sent down to the ground by a twin axe kick to the head by Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto rubbed his heel, "Okay, ow…I am not doing that again. Damn, his head is hard as a rock." Sasuke joined him, "You are telling me…hopefully now he will stay down." At the bottom, Gaara was laying on his back as he thought, _"Am I…am I being defeated? No…that is not possible. I…I…I…"_

Then he screamed out in rage, "I will not let my existence be destroyed!" Suddenly his gourd exploded and poured out huge amounts of sand to rise up in the air to form Shukaku. "Holy shit, he turned into it…" Sasuke cried out.

"No, not yet…he is still in control for now." Naruto replied, looking at the sand colossus. Suddenly Gaara appeared out of the middle of Shukaku's head and raised his hand in a familiar way, sand appeared and trapped the two Konoha ninja together.

"I commend you, Uzumaki Naruto; Uchiha Sasuke for lasting this long against me, but my existence is much more resolved than yours." Inside the coffin, Naruto smirked, "We aren't going down without a fight." He swiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and did hand signs.

"What are you doing?"

"You will see, Sasuke."

Gaara shouted, "This is the end! **Sabaku Ky…**"

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" **

A large plume of smoke covered them and blasted the sand away to reveal Gamabunta. **"Naruto…why have you summoned me so early for?"** the toad asked. Sasuke looked at Naruto incredulously, "You can summon now too? Who the hell has been teaching you over the month?"

"I will tell you later, Sasuke, but right now, we got bigger problems." Naruto shot back and then he turned to Gamabunta, "Gamabunta, look, I know this is a bad time and I just got initiated, but our village is under attack."

"Are you kidding me? I already faced one Bijuu before in my lifetime and I will be damned if I would do it again." The toad said in disbelief. Naruto replied, "You rather have the village destroyed instead?" Gamabunta replied, "Good point…alright, I will help you out."

Gamabunta said, **"So the Shukaku, eh? Oh, well, I guess I can help a bit…hold on, kid."** Gamabunta crouched and jumped into the air with his sword, **"Gamadosuzen!"** The sword caught Shukaku's arm and was completely severed.

Gamabunta's sword flipped through the air to the left of Shukaku and the toad thought as his hands shook a bit, _**"It took all my strength just to sever his arm…this is going to be a problem!"**_

Gaara formed a hand sign as he said, "You interest me a lot, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki…but this is the end. **Tanuki Neiru no Jutsu!**" Gaara's head bowed forward and Shukaku's dull eyes were filled with light. **"WAHOOO! I AM FINALLY OUT!"**

Shukaku looked to see Gamabunta and Naruto, "Time to die!" He raised his claw and pounded his belly as he inhaled, "**Fuuton: Renkudan!**" Gamabunta avoided the blast by jumping in the air,**"Suiton: Teppodama!"**

Shukaku cancelled the water bullet with his air bullet and fired three successive blasts while Gamabunta did the same thing with his Teppodama, but he missed one to have it hit him into the stomach. **"Damn, he put a lot of chakra into it."** Gamabunta muttered.

"Are you able to get close to him enough to let me get to Gaara? If I am able to wake Gaara up, the Shukaku will return back."

"**Yeah, but I don't have anything to hold him with…unless we do a Konbi Henge!"**

"A combination Henge? Hehe…and I got the perfect henge! Let's go, Gamabunta!" Naruto said as he summoned his tenant's chakra. Sasuke asked curiously, "What are you up to?" The Jinchuuriki smirked, "You will see…"

Gamabunta ran at the Shukaku and Naruto shouted, "**HENGE!**" A plume of smoke appeared and an orange claw appeared to reveal the henge of the Kyuubi. Sasuke looked at Naruto, "Why am I not surprised that you would pick this form? Now let's kick some raccoon ass."

"With pleasure!" Naruto replied as Gamabunta grabbed some trees with his tails and flung them at the demon, but Shukaku blocked it with his sand, giving Gamabunta the opportunity to hold him. **"Go, kid!"** Gamabunta said, muffled.

Naruto and Sasuke jumped up on Shukaku's arm and ran toward Gaara, but the sand tried to stop him. "Like hell…I will let you stop me! You are going to wake…the…fuck…UP!" Naruto slammed his fist into Gaara's head and the boy woke up.

"**NO! I JUST GOT OUT!"** Shukaku screamed out as the light faded from his eyes. Gaara said, "You both will die!" Naruto replied as he said, "Like hell I will!" He gave Gaara another fist, but it was stopped by his sand and next, Sasuke came up and tried to punch him as well, but he was trapped by the sand.

Naruto shouted, "D-Damn it!" He gave Gaara a head butt and the body of Shukaku crumbled down into….well, sand.

The Jinchuurikis knelt on opposite trees and Gamabunta thought, _**"Heh, a simple head butt…definitely Minato and Kushina's kid…something that she would do. Well, I better go…seems that I have reached my limit and it also seems that he can handle it."**_The toad boss disappeared along with his sword.

Gaara panted as he glared at Naruto and Sasuke, "DIE!" At the same time, Naruto and Sasuke readied their fists and slammed them into Gaara's face, causing the unstable boy to fall through the canopy and land hard on his back.

Naruto and Sasuke jumped down to see the boy and Naruto looked at the Uchiha, "Stay here and watch my back, I sense someone coming." Sasuke nodded and Naruto went over to Gaara slowly. _"How is he so strong? NO! I WON'T LET MY EXISTENCE FADE!"_ Gaara shouted, "Stay away from me!"

But Naruto replied, "It hurts doesn't it? The pain of loneliness? We're the same you and I. I've known how you felt so I know what's like to be alone, but I pushed on and found ones I wish to protect and if you try to destroy that I love, I will stop you even if it means by killing you!"

Gaara said, "You mean…you gain your strength from others." The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki nodded, "Because others believe in me and my desire to protect them from harm, I was able to defeat you and it will happen again and again no matter how many times you will come at me."

At that time, Temari and Kankuro jumped down in front of Gaara and Naruto smiled at Gaara, "Now I will let you leave with your life, Gaara and now you have the choice to change to find the same strength that I possess. Now…go."

Temari and Kankuro took Gaara's arms over their shoulders and leapt away. Sasuke spoke up, "Was it really wise to let them go?" The Jinchuuriki said, "Well, if they try to do it again, we will just kick their asses again…" Then he smirked, "Maybe I can let you show off your skills when we fight him."

Sasuke smirked, "Maybe…now let's get back to the village…I am very sore now." Naruto said, "Yeah…let's go." The two boys walked off, meeting Sakura and Shikamaru along the way to the village. The village was victorious in driving away the combined forces of Oto and Suna from their village.


	13. Chapter 13

Hello, Fellow Readers, unfortunately this is not an update at the moment, but I need your help. On the upcoming sequel to Destiny of Sparda's Descendent, I need a poll to decide which fighting style that the Rookie Nine will be learning during their time in Hell.

All of them will be screening except for Naruto, Hinata, Neji and Lee as they all have styles given or decided for them. If you have any styles that you can give me, please private message my account or at least drop a review on the Destiny of Sparda's Descendant

Thank you for all your help!


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